Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality PDF
Preview Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality
P a y i n g f o r t h e P a r t y how college maintains inequality ElizabEth a. armstrong • laura t. hamilton PAYING FOR THE PARTY Paying for the Party How College Maintains In e qual ity Elizabeth A. Armstrong Laura T. Hamilton HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, En gland 2013 Copyright © 2013 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Armstrong, Elizabeth A. Paying for the party : how college maintains inequality / Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura T. Hamilton. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-674-04957-4 (alk. paper) 1. Women college students—United States—Social conditions. 2. Educational sociology—United States. 3. Public universities and colleges—United States. I. Hamilton, Laura T. (Laura Teresa) II. Title. LC1756.A76 2013 378.19822—dc23 2012036068 To the women who shared their college experiences with us Contents List of Figures and Tables ix Preface xi Introduction 1 1 The Women 26 2 The Party Pathway 50 3 Rush and the Party Scene 74 4 The Floor 94 5 Socialites, Wannabes, and Fit with the Party Pathway 118 6 Strivers, Creaming, and the Blocked Mobility Pathway 148 7 Achievers, Underachievers, and the Professional Pathway 180 8 College Pathways and Post- College Prospects 209 9 Politics and Pathways 234 Appendix A: Participants 255 Appendix B: Studying Social Class 263 Appendix C: Data Collection, Analysis, and Writing 267 Appendix D: Ethical Considerations 275 Notes 279 References 297 Ack now ledg ments 317 Index 323 Figures and Tables Figures I.1 Accounting for college experiences and class trajectories 8 4.1 Layout of the fl oor 99 Tables I.1 Class projects, college pathways, org ani z at ion al imperatives, and the fl ow of students through the university 9 1.1 MU undergraduates, 2004– 2005, versus fl oor residents 31 1.2 Class background of study participants 32 1.3 Class-b ased resources 37 2.1 The social calendar 55 5.1 Socialite and wannabe college experiences 120 5.2 Socialite and wannabe post-c ollege trajectories 137 6.1 S triver college experiences 150 6.2 Striver trajectories: stayers versus leavers 169 7.1 Achiever and underachiever college experiences 183 7.2 Achiever and underachiever trajectories 198 8.1 Trajectories at college exit of privileged women 211 8.2 Trajectories at college exit of less privileged women 214 A.1 Study participants 256 A.2 Interviews collected by year 259 ix
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