ERIC Number: ED025795
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1967
Pages: 23
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
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Social Class, College Contexts, and Educational Attainment: Social Class and College Dropout.
Kamens, David H.
This paper develops two models of the effects of social class on educational attainment. A large body of research has documented the positive relationship between social class and educational attainment. However, research has shown that there is no relationship between graduation from the first college attended and social class. Data to test these arguments is based on interviews with 1,665 freshmen at a sample of 99 American colleges. In the first model, academic achievement is viewed as an important allocation device to occupational roles. Because of their higher occupational aspirations, we hypothesize that students from high socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds will be more adversely affected by low grades than low SES students. The data provide tentative support for this argument. In the second model, "ollege quality was seen as important for the allocation of students to occupational roles. Because ability and social class are positively related, students from high SES background are more likely to attend higher quality colleges. They in turn, have lower dropout rates than lower quality institutions, independent of students' individual social class. Data is presented that supports this argument. These arguments are integrated into a single set of propositions that link the effects of class based aspirations and those of differential institutional selection. (Author)
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Authoring Institution: Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A