Non-Elites in an Elite Space

I question how non-elites in elite spaces endure their everyday lives in an elite space. Recently, I have researched elite spaces and the types of things that contribute to and help define ‘elite status’. Studies have focused on non-elites in elite spaces, including the work of Anthony Jack and Shamus Khan who each performed ethnographic studies on elite spaces within another elite college and an elite American prep school, respectively. Furthermore, the work of Lauren Rivera speaks extensively on how elites are advantaged and non-elites are disadvantaged through the job hiring processes, even if they are coming from the same spaces (an Ivy League school). Underlying their work, Bourdieu’s theory of capital explains these socioeconomic and cultural differences that individuals face when thriving, or in this case, learning how to navigate such a space. In relation to my research, our focus is based solely on elite students and families where we have extensive data on the advantages they have in school and in society, similar to the works I mentioned. By using these works and our research we can come to the conclusion about what a disadvantaged student might look like at the Croft School. 

Advantaged individuals means those who are in economic and social positions that provide them with more advantageous opportunities than their peers without those opportunities. They use their social, economic, and cultural capital, allowing them to approach tasks with ‘ease’. Khan explains that elite students still have to work hard in school, but they still have underlying privileges and opportunities that benefit them. He uses the term “ease of privilege” which is how elite students embody their upper-class capitals and use them as guides to success. This is shown through our research where one student discussed her experience of being in an advantaged social position by having access to an elite education and economic advantage to secure other opportunities. Similarly, Rivera discusses the advantages that students face when landing entry-level jobs through relating to their interviewers by way of their elite experiences and cultural capital. Howard (2020) references advantage, “there is considerable ideological value to seeming diverse and therefore accessible and open. Ahmed (2012) has pointed out that the ideological function of diversity efforts creates the impression of more diversity than actually exists, and masks the realities that elite universities continue to mainly serve wealthy elites” (pg.84). These outside works are also representative of the students at Croft and parallel our findings through analysis of our interviews by replicating the advantages and unmatched opportunities that elite students face at the Croft schools versus those who are in public schools across Chilean society. These advantages take the forms of school admissions, job opportunities, economic positions, and other knowledge capitals within an elite circuit. 

On the other hand, disadvantaged students are individuals who are in elite spaces despite not possessing capital that helps them propel forward, land a top job, or navigate the hidden curriculum. Instead, these students must use other tactics and learned behaviors to find their success in an elite-dominated space. Furthermore, Jack calls this group the privileged poor. He describes them as “students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds but spend time at elite high schools before entering college” (Jack, 2020). He says they know what it’s like to be under the poverty line but at the same time know what it’s like to be in the top 1% (Jack, 2020). Although our research does not focus on disadvantaged students, I think it’s crucial to consider this group of students to fully understand the advantages that come from Croft. By analyzing data that exemplifies privilege, the ‘ease’, and the opportunity, we can contextualize what Croft students privilege really is. We can understand the broader societal impacts that Croft might have and the way that it reproduces elite students by restricting access by not offering financial aid, resulting in less disadvantaged student enrollment. Kids who are admitted into the Croft school and come from disadvantaged backgrounds may turn to these practices to blend in with their advantaged peers. Additionally, it shows how students who are not a member of the global elite, struggle to gain access and equality among their peers. 

Disadvantaged students must adopt other forms of behavior to fit in with their affluent peers. Some of these tasks might include things like insider coaching, mimicry, caricaturing difference, or by getting involved with organizations that promote diversity and inclusion (Rivera, 2016). Within these spaces, as Jack describes, disadvantaged students are forced to adapt to the dominant culture of wealth which entails learning a new set of behaviors, dress codes, and manners in both formal and informal settings. At the Croft school, without the possession of the correct forms of capital, there is a slim chance of achieving the same success as those who do possess it. Non-elites in elite spaces face drastic inequalities and disadvantages that are covered by the greater successes of the academic institutions. 

Sources: 

Bourdieu, Pierre, et al. The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power. Stanford University Press, 2010. 

Jack, Anthony Abraham. The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students. Harvard University Press, 2020. 

Jane Kenway & Adam Howard (2022) Elite universities: Their monstrous promises and promising monsters, Curriculum Inquiry, 52:1, 75-96, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2021.1994837

Khan, Shamus. Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School. Princeton University Press, 2021.

Rivera, Lauren A. Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs. Princeton University Press, 2016.