Pink Slips (for Some): Campus Employment, Social Class, and COVID-19.

Although undergraduates from all class backgrounds work while attending college, little is known about how students approach finding work and the benefits they reap from different on-campus roles. Drawing on interviews with 110 undergraduates at Harvard University, we show that in the absence of cle...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociology of Education Vol. 97; no. 4; pp. 299 - 316
Main Authors: Jack, Anthony Abraham, Bassett, Becca Spindel
Format: Article
Published: Sage Publications Inc. Oct2024
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Pink Slips (for Some): Campus Employment, Social Class, and COVID-19.
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          Jack, Anthony Abraham
          Bassett, Becca Spindel
        affil:
          Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
          University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
      su:
        COVID-19 pandemic
        Higher education research
        Class differences
        Cultural capital
        College curriculum
        Education students
      sug:
        subj:
          COVID-19 pandemic
          Higher education research
          Class differences
          Cultural capital
          Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
          College curriculum
          Education students
      keyword:
        class inequality
        cultural capital
        hidden curriculum
        higher education
        qualitative research on education
        student work and educational effects
        class inequality
        cultural capital
        hidden curriculum
        higher education
        qualitative research on education
        student work and educational effects
      ab: Although undergraduates from all class backgrounds work while attending college, little is known about how students approach finding work and the benefits they reap from different on-campus roles. Drawing on interviews with 110 undergraduates at Harvard University, we show that in the absence of clear institutional expectations surrounding on-campus work opportunities, students draw on class-based strategies to determine which jobs are "right for them." Upper-income students pursued "life of the mind" jobs that permitted them access to institutional resources and networks. Alternatively, lower-income students pursued more transactional "work for pay" positions that yielded fewer institutional benefits and connections. The consequences of these differential strategies were amplified during COVID-19 campus closures as work-for-pay positions were eliminated while life of the mind continued remotely. Through documenting heterogeneity in work experiences, we reveal a class-segregated labor market on campus and extend previous analyses of how university practices exacerbate class differences and reproduce inequality.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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