Social networks and social class: How Caucasian, working class parents of first-generation college students experience their child's first year of college
Date of Award
2008
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Teaching and Leadership
Advisor(s)
Cathy McHugh Engstrom
Second Advisor
Cathy McHugh Engstrom
Keywords
First-generation, Working class, Social capital, College parents, Financing college, Caucasian
Subject Categories
Education | Student Counseling and Personnel Services
Abstract
Educators and policy makers are engaged in important dialogue about how to make college a realistic option for students whose parents did not graduate from a four-year college. This dissertation examined how parents of first-generation college students experienced their child's first year of college, through the eyes of 12 Caucasian working class parents of traditional aged first-year college students. This question is analyzed on three dimensions--how these parents' viewed their child's decision to go to college, how they were involved in pre-college and the first year of college, and how they navigated challenges associated with financing college. Parents' experiences are analyzed through the construct of social capital and in relation to their working class backgrounds. This study highlights strategies that parents used to get information about college and how they used this information to assist their students.
Access
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Recommended Citation
Ohl-Gigliotti, Christine Ann, "Social networks and social class: How Caucasian, working class parents of first-generation college students experience their child's first year of college" (2008). Teaching and Leadership - Dissertations. 7.
https://surface.syr.edu/tl_etd/7
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