Throughout our process of analyzing student and alumni data collected on the Croft School, we have found many instances where the systems within the school walls mirror those on the outside. Alongside research on Chilean society, we have found that many students say there is a large divide between the upper and lower social classes in Chile. This separation is apparent even when students combine at the Croft School and manifests through mechanisms such as a high level of competitiveness and discrimination.
Chile is ranked high on the OECD’s scale of income equality, the Gini coefficient. In 2022, they scored a 0.4 out of 1 (OECD 2022) with the upper classes and established middle classes comprising about 25% of the country’s population (Espinoza et al., 2013). These structures of inequality began in the colonial period when land ownership equated to high social status (Solimano & Zapata-Román, 2024). The neoliberal economic policies implemented under Pinochet’s rule have maintained these structures through persistent income gaps and provisions of social services (Solimano & Zapata-Román, 2024). Today, Chilean society is still starkly divided between the haves and have nots.
The Croft School in Santiago, Chile was founded in 1928 by a person, who was born in Chile but had British roots. After attending Cambridge University, he returned to Chile to found a school that could prepare Chilean students to attend British Universities. The founder integrated Chilean students into the school and began to incorporate local curriculums. In 1971, the school became co-ed, but did not become accredited as a British school until 2017. Regardless, the school has maintained a consistent air of prestige and a majority population of European descended students. The school has a highly selective admissions process along with extremely high tuition fees to create barriers that exclude lower-income students.
When going through the data on the Croft school, we found that many students alluded to their school as a site of reproduction of the inequality seen throughout Chile’s history. When asked how they define social class, one student replied that “here in Chile it’s like if you have money or you have little money” (Student 1). Authors Solimano and Zapata-Román explain how so much concentration of money within the elite class might be more of an issue than income inequality within Chile because when money gets passed down through a family, it often reproduces the same societal roles for a family over and over (2024). The Croft School is a place of extremely concentrated wealth where most students come from the same background that leads them to similar positions in society after schooling.
Pierre Bourdieu’s work on social class can help us understand how the Croft School has become such a bubble from the outside world in Chile. The school can be interpreted as a field of power, wherein students from the same social class are all competing for access to resources and recognition. Within this bubble, Bourdieu (1996) explains that “this selective confinement produces a very homogeneous group whose homogeneity is further increased through the mutual socialization brought about by continued, prolonged contact” (p. 75). One Croft Alumni described how “we’re used to seeing the same people or same backgrounds” and they “have a lot of friends right now at university who wouldn’t have been able to go to my school, whom when I talk to them about certain things, you realize that you’re living very different lives.” This exemplifies the divide between the inside of Croft and the outside world, as students don’t have much exposure between the two. Bourdieu describes how this division functions within total institutions such as Croft putting this as asking students to “to ignore what they do not know and to be satisfied with what they do know” (p. 90). This manifested in the interview data as student’s not having much interaction with other social class groups through things such as volunteer work.
The culture of the Croft School also lends itself to the outward discrimination of people deemed as different. One alumnus explained that their gay friend had a hard time in school because the school culture doesn’t “accept people being different, so it’s hard to be different in that environment.” Many students also described how they felt ostracized if they pushed back against the norms of the school. Bourdieu posits this as an integral part of the maintenance of elite spaces. Thus, students depend on their attendance at Croft to bring them status and therefore must adhere to the structures of class put in place by the school. Despite the huge problems with this, it was somewhat nice to hear that most of the students were very aware of the social hierarchy around them. Perhaps this acknowledgement on the part of students is a start to societal reform for equality within Croft and Chile on a larger scale.
Bourdieu, P. (1996). The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power. Stanford University Press
Espinoza, V., Barozet, E., & Méndez, M. (2013). Estratificación y movilidad social bajo un modelo neoliberal: El caso de Chile. Lavboratorio, 25, 169–191.
Solimano, A., & Zapata-Román, G. (2024). Chilean Economic Development under Neoliberalism: Structural Transformation, High Inequality and Environmental Fragility. Elements in Development Economics. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009477352
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2015, roughly 11 million adults in Australia regularly participated in recreational sports (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015). With a national population of 23 million at the time, this means that approximately 47% of Australia’s adult population played sports. This raises the question: why do so many people play sports, and what is it about sports that drives participation?
To begin, being physically active often reflects an interest in maintaining physical fitness. While fitness alone can generate social capital, sports—especially team sports—offer a sense of belonging. Teams provide opportunities for friendship, leadership, and personal growth. As sports become more competitive, athletes also learn to navigate adversity, thereby developing resilience. Reflecting on the true impact of sports, I’m struck by how transferable these skills are to the workforce. Resilience, leadership, perseverance, and social competence are all qualities that employers highly value.
The social capital cultivated through sports can open doors to upward mobility. However, this raises concerns about access. Those with the financial means to participate in sports, who can afford equipment, transportation, and membership fees, gain an advantage in developing these desirable qualities. On the contrary, individuals without the necessary resources are often excluded from these opportunities, which may affect their ability to present themselves as competitive candidates in the job market.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics also notes that participation in sports tends to decrease with age (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015). One possible reason is that the workforce begins to fulfill some of the roles that sports once played: offering a sense of purpose, opportunities for growth, and the development of resilience in the face of challenges. As I compare trends in sports and workforce participation across age groups, the parallels become more apparent. However, still, it’s still important to acknowledge that many adults must work to support themselves and their families in Australia’s society, often leaving little time or energy to participate in recreational sports. Physical limitations may also prevent adults from participating in sports at the same level they once did.
While sports can offer mobility and opportunity to younger individuals, I’ve considered how those same benefits tend to decrease with age, and I wonder if that decrease is tied to the workforce being a filler of the void that sports once were to athletes? The mobility that sports offer to younger people is greater than the mobility that sports offer people when they are older people. For example, students can leverage sports in order to get into top universities and position themselves to get a higher-paying job in the future as a result.
In conclusion, sports in Australia are an indication of class, and being able to participate in sports positions younger generations to go into the workforce.
Sports and athletics play an essential role in the Everdeen School experience. Students at the Everdeen School are required to participate in sports, making it a key part of many students’ social lives as well as their developing identities. The required nature of sports also situates athletics as a key value of the Everden School. Although they are elite in an academic context, they also further their eliteness through extracurricular activities. The school offers many different sports at eight different levels. Each season, the school offers countless options for sports students can take part in, ranging from swimming and sailing in the summer to basketball and soccer in the winter, to golf and rugby in the spring. As students get older and progress through their Everdeen education, the sporting options become more expansive, allowing students to follow their specific interests.
Sports was one of the key topics in the interviews that were conducted with Everdeen students. When asked about sports at Everdeen, the interviewed students discussed the key role that sports and athletics play in defining their daily routines and social circles. Athleticism at Everdeen works to further enhance the elite nature of the school, creating smaller elite social circles within an already elite institution. Elitism grows and creates divides within the student body by including some and excluding others. Furthermore, it continues to allow students to develop their cultural and social capital through experiences and increased social connectivity. Sports teams create networks among students and alumni that provide students with access to a more robust social life at school and a more interconnected network after graduation. Although sports are required for all students, those who are more talented and take it more seriously are privy to a more elite social circle and experience.
In one of the student interviews, a 16-year-old describes the ways that her social life is defined by her sports teams by saying, “All of my friends have always been athletes.” For this student, it is not just about participating in sports but also being a self-identified “athlete” that distinguishes her and her friends from other students at their school. Although all students participate in sports, not all students identify with the label of being an athlete. She continues by saying, “it tends to be kids who do sports are more civilized with other kids who do sports.” It’s clear through her experiences and her interviews that her time as a member of the crew team has shaped her social circles and allowed her access to a certain elite status at Everdeen. Furthermore, her social circles are defined by students who are athletes, showing that sports and athletics are dominant factors in Everdeen’s social scene.
Another student who was interviewed discussed his relationship with sports at Everdeen. When asked to describe himself to the interviewer, he immediately discussed his role on the school’s football team and said, “[I’m] A bit of a sport—sportsman. Apart from that, nothing really.” When he was asked if he did any other extracurricular activities, he said, “I don’t really do anything else, like, I can’t do instruments or anything like that.” Like the first student I discussed, this student also feels that playing sports and being an athlete are key parts of his identity and place in the school community. It is clear through these quotations that being an athlete is one of the sole ways that he identifies himself, with little else to talk about. This sheds light on the priorities of students, but more specifically, athletes at Everdeen, as it can serve as a somewhat limiting factor of students’ identities.
Being a part of a sports team as a form of social capital is also a pattern I’ve noticed during my time at Colby. Like Everdeen, Colby is a highly elite institution where sports play a key role in the experience. Although Colby does not require sports, they are essential to the social scene because about one-third of Colby students are athletes. The mere amount of student-athletes at Colby creates a social culture that is dominated by student athletes. For most athletes at Colby, their team is who they spend most of their time with and, therefore, make up their primary social circle. Upon arriving at Colby as a non-athlete, I immediately felt as though I was behind socially due to not being on a sports team and not having an immediate social circle.
At both Colby and Everdeen, being a student-athlete grants students status and access to a social scene that boosts them above the rest of the student body. This allows students who hold this position to gain social capital in a schooling setting, which often sets them up for social capital that transcends schooling.
The social capital that is seen among athletes can also be converted into other kinds of capital, such as economic capital. Although the Everdeen School does not provide financial aid to students, they do have a scholarship for “excellence” that encompasses athletics. This once again clarifies the priorities of the institution and allows students who hold the identity of “athlete” to advance and gain access to elite education while other students are not afforded the same opportunities. Overall, at elite schools, especially Colby College and Everdeen, being an athlete plays a key role in gaining social capital and status as well as economic capital.
While going through the transcripts of the alums from Sankofa International College (SIC), a prominent theme surfaced: their mutual path toward attaining higher education in the United States, with the eventual intention of returning to Ghana after completing their studies. Both alumni conveyed a profound connection to their homeland and a sense of obligation to aid its progress. This feeling seems to be cultivated by their education at SIC. The curriculum at SIC powerfully highlights Pan-Africanism; Hakim Adi, a British historian and scholar specializing in African affairs, describes Pan-Africanism as “a belief in the unity, common history, and common purpose of the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora and the notion that their destinies are interconnected” (p. 2). This principle is not merely presented as a theoretical idea but is woven into the school’s mission, influencing students’ perspectives and goals. By promoting an understanding of African history, culture, and the socio-political challenges African nations encounter, SIC fosters a dedication to the continent’s development.
This feeling of dedication is apparent in the career goals of the alums. One alumnus linked their long-term goal to Ghana’s economic growth, stating, “… in the long term, I want to go back to Ghana and start my own oil and exploration business.” The other alumni admitted to feeling unsure about their future profession but still viewed returning home as the most practical choice, stating, “There are a lot of paths that I might take, but I am not sure. I think the feasible one would be to go back to Ghana and go to law school.” These remarks demonstrate how SIC’s Pan-African ideology and personal and family factors influence students’ ambitions—ultimately enhancing their commitment to aiding Ghana’s progress after completing their studies overseas.
The interviewees indicated that their career decisions were greatly influenced by their families’ preferences rather than their own individual ambitions. Many experienced pressure to enter fields recognized as more secure, esteemed, or financially beneficial by their parents or relatives. For example, one interviewee once wanted to be an aeronautical engineer but eventually changed their focus to petroleum engineering based on their mother’s recommendation. They mentioned, “I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, but my mother told me to look at petroleum because it is a profitable industry, and at that time there was a lot of job security.” This advice changed their career path and influenced their broader viewpoint, as they rationalized the choice by stressing the financial advantages of petroleum engineering and its impact on Africa’s development when they returned. Similarly, family ties largely shaped another interviewee’s college choice. They mentioned that they only looked at Mount Holyoke because their cousin attended the institution, implying that family influence reached beyond career choices to decisions regarding education as well. However, they applied to other institutions but did not get into them. This trend underscores how significantly family expectations mold career and academic trajectories, occasionally restricting the pursuit of alternative paths that might better resonate with an individual’s interests and goals.
Overall, the experiences of SIC alumni demonstrate how Pan-Africanism strongly shaped their goals and sense of duty to the advancement of Ghana. Their desire to return home is motivated by their education at SIC and family expectations, which greatly influence their academic and professional decisions. While some graduates welcome these influences, others balance the demands of their families with their own goals. In the end, the difficulties of identity, education, and duty in a globalized world are reflected in their experiences.
Resources:
“Pan-Africanism.” Google Books, Google, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ow5kDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=what%2Bis%2Bpan%2Bafricanism&ots=FFJTHJhcBi&sig=R8AV2ujYnlaR89pP4VRlL5y6LAA#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20pan%20africanism&f=false. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
Does a student that comes from a non-elite background but attends an elite school become elite? This question has been a prominent focus of discussion throughout the semester. As you would expect, this concept can be seen in many elite schools, and Colby is no different. It’s important to explore the differences that non-elites and elites face attending the same elite school.
There is no denying that social class plays an explicit role in how students experience Colby and other elite institutions. For example, students who come from a background of wealth do not necessarily have to balance education and economic constraints whereas students who come from lower-income backgrounds may experience Colby with that balance explicitly in mind. Students who come from lower-income backgrounds may need to work one or two jobs for a variety of reasons which undeniably takes some time away from one’s academic studies. This is just one example of how social class plays an integral role in the experience of an elite educational institution.
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In addition, another quintessential difference is the way students value their education depending on their economic situations. For example, some students who come from wealthy backgrounds have safety nets that allow them the comfortability to make academic and social mistakes and/or risks. This stems from a belief that financial situations will and usually do act as shields. On the other hand, students who come from lower-income situations do not have the same option of that comfortability. This is, however, not to say that there aren’t grey areas when it comes to how social class intertwines with experience. Not everyone experiences things the same way. Rather, this is to comment on how these issues do exist and they do ultimately have an integral role in how people are able to interact with elite institutions.
Another example would be the access one has or does not have to a vehicle or a mode of transportation. Although this example may seem small compared to others, it still acts as a symbol or an illustration of how social class affects a student’s experience. For example, here at Colby, most students who come from wealthier backgrounds either have a car or have access to one. This is not to say that only wealthier students have cars, but it is more to highlight that there is a gap. This privilege allows for students to get a chance to leave campus to places like Sugarloaf, or Portland for a day or weekend trip. The freedom to travel and move can act as a time for students to reset or escape from the stress campus undeniably brings, which should be an option for everyone to indulge in.
