Universities across America have put the necessary effort into emphasizing and increasing their diversity. While the intention may be there, making quality education accessible to all is not the same as making it inclusive to all. A common theme among American colleges is that they not only assume what we can afford but also what we know prior to attendance. Students who go to public lower-income schools have a much different college experience. Due to agents of socialization, individuals, groups, and institutions that influence the attitudes and behaviors of members of society lower income or first-generation students can feel like fish out of water when stepping on campus. So, what does it mean to be a poor student on a rich campus? How does one integrate themselves into affluent society when they are already behind the starting line?
Students who grow up in an environment where socioeconomic constraints are a constant are less likely to go to college and those who venture on are less likely to graduate. Meanwhile, their higher-income peers attend preparatory schools, where they learn from teachers possessing doctoral degrees, and they are socialized to question authority and build relationships with faculty. On the contrary, lower-income schools often just want their students to graduate, and they don’t provide students with options and preparation to be successful after graduation. Those who do make it to college, especially elite institutions, are told that they “made it.” Many are the first in their families to make it into a reputable four-year university, against the challenges of an inequitable public school system and a less than fortunate family income.
When it comes to the types of achievement colleges assess, children of the wealthy are better prepared. Low-income students tend to struggle with positive acculturation because of less diverse socialization. Without that prior affluent socialization, low-income students must figure out the hidden curriculum, the unintentional education of students in the ideals and ways of being in society in order to be successful and equalize the playing field. Low-income students are unlikely to have personal or professional mentors to assist them. Terms like office hours or fellowship are simply lost in translation. Faculty and administration spring right into this new vocabulary, leaving those unfamiliar more alienated than before. In this context, combined with integrating themselves into higher society, low-income students come to feel like cultural foreigners on their campuses. Similar to imposter syndrome, a psychological pattern in which a person doubts their skills, talents or achievements with a constant fear of being accused as a fraud, first-gen and low-income students carry the uncomfortable burden of being an outcast in their environment, or as mentioned earlier, like a “fish out of water.” Ironically, universities are beacons of intellect. They stand for collaboration and innovation, but administration fails to completely understand the inequities that plagues students. Implicit bias efforts have been made a priority and are exercised as an institution, but student social affairs seem to be lagging, with historically prejudiced campus organizations still operating today. Feelings of hyper self-awareness, negative emotions, and, perceptions of discrimination arise, and as a result, the sense of belonging for low-income and first-gen students decreases. When students aren’t provided with that sense of belonging it negatively influences social and academic engagement.
As tuition steadily rises and the gap between classes widens, it is right to expect that these disparities will remain. The first semester of college is a critical transitional period for all incoming students and can either make or break their college trajectory. When elite universities assume the ability and knowledge of their student population, they fail disadvantaged students and perpetuate social hierarchy on their campuses.
