Class Cultures and Social Mobility - (Critical Issues in American Education) by Paul Dean (Paperback)

About the Book

When working-class first-generation students enter college or the professional workplace, they often find ourselves immersed in entirely new worlds. They battle imposter syndrome and must learn an unfamiliar rule book. This highly accessible book explores how first-gen students survive these cultural mismatches but also turn their class background into a strength. Through heartfelt stories of first-gen graduates, Class Cultures and Social Mobility shows how there needn't be a choice between economic success and maintaining authenticity to one's roots--it is possible to balance the competing demands of the two class worlds while lifting up others.

Book Synopsis

When working-class first-generation students enter college or the professional workplace, they often find themselves immersed in entirely new worlds. They must learn the unwritten rules for how to speak, dress, behave, and interact with new peers and colleagues. While striving to fit in and do well, they risk feeling imposter syndrome, a loss of identity, or broken ties with friends and family.

Class Cultures and Social Mobility tells the stories of upwardly mobile first-gen graduates who flipped the script and turned their working-class roots into a strength. This accessible and highly engaging book reveals how first-gen graduates overcame hardship while leveraging unique skills--their working-class cultural capital--in college and their professional careers. It demonstrates there needn't be a choice between economic success and maintaining authenticity to one's roots--we can balance the competing demands of the two class worlds together. Whether you're an educator, student, working professional, or advocate, this book provides a powerful way to reimagine the transformations that accompany class mobility.

Review Quotes

"This book is so well written! It would be excellent for undergraduate courses as it is rooted in the literature and rich with original data. Class Cultures and Social Mobility shines a bright light on the 'hidden strengths' people raised in working-class homes bring to their middle-class worlds."--Annette Lareau "author of Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life"

"A well-written, interesting, timely, and emotionally engaging book. Dean makes great use of his own experiences and those of his interviewees, presenting complex sociological concepts and findings simply and in a straightforward, engaging way."--Elizabeth Lee "coauthor of Geographies of Campus Inequality: Mapping the Diverse Experiences of First-Generation St"

About the Author

PAUL DEAN is a professor of sociology and anthropology at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. He is coauthor of the book Globalization: A Basic Text.