{"id":5775,"date":"2021-03-24T23:54:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T03:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/?p=5775"},"modified":"2021-03-30T11:09:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T15:09:47","slug":"reinforcer-or-propeller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/2021\/03\/24\/reinforcer-or-propeller\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinforcer or Propeller?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Many elite high schools and colleges pride themselves on preparing their students to be leaders in the economic and social world. For example, an elite school in Jordan has a mission \u201cto develop and empower young leaders who will drive change within and beyond their communities.\u201d Colby College claims to provide \u201cstudents with unmatched experiences leading to postgraduate success.\u201d But how does this success and empowerment measure for students that have historically been left behind? Both schools mentioned above offer merit and need-based scholarships to expand their diversity and create opportunities for underprivileged students, but how do their elite standings impact the social mobility of the students they attract?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Run BTS. Jeon Jungkook, 2019. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Being a student from an underrepresented socioeconomic class at a technically elite school, in reviewing this research, I began to wonder what the social mobility escalator is like for people in a similar situation to mine. Are students propelled from their low rungs on the ladder or are their class standings reinforced and solidified? How do I make sure I am one of the ones propelled? Inquiring minds would like to know. And even more important than just the student\u2019s individual social promotion, how does attending an elite school impact their community as a whole? Do students use what they learned to uplift their communities or do students leave them in the dust once they get their degree? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dalila (a pseudonym), a student at a prominent elite school in Jordan appears to stand as evidence that elite schooling does promote students to higher social classes. She attended her high school on scholarships and now attends an exclusive liberal arts college in New England. Already, she has been placed in an environment that many can claim she would not have reached without attending the high school that she did. Her high school provided many opportunities for students to get out and experience other parts of the world while making connections to others along the way. And now, because of the social justice and civic engagement initiatives offered to her in high school, Dalila actually plans to return to her community after college and aid in their advancement. Her plans and current standing both seem to point to the idea of an improved socioeconomic standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Stephen Colbert, 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, according to an international study published in 2019, gaining admission to an elite program only raises the social class of wealthy males with an almost obsolete effect on people from low-income backgrounds. (Zimmerman) This is disturbing information because if their elite education won\u2019t uplift a student\u2019s standing, what will? In class, we are learning that there are many different components to consider when discussing social mobility because of the different forms of capital that contribute to an individual\u2019s social class. I believe that even if their economic and institutionalized cultural capital does not get someone to a higher social class, factors such as social and symbolic capital could be extremely useful in getting jobs and climbing the mobility ladder that way. While at elite schools and colleges, if students can create wide enough social networks and gain recognition for their efforts, hopefully, they can use these things to propel themselves higher than they ever believed possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zimmerman, Seth D. 2019. “Elite Colleges and Upward Mobility to Top Jobs and Top Incomes.” American Economic Review<\/em>, 109 (1): 1-47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOI: 10.1257\/aer.20171019<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many elite high schools and colleges pride themselves on preparing their students to be leaders in the economic and social world. For example, an elite school in Jordan has a mission \u201cto develop and empower young leaders who will drive change within and beyond their communities.\u201d Colby College claims to provide \u201cstudents with unmatched experiences […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10881,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[277211,277227,277229],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10881"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5775"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5887,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5775\/revisions\/5887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}