Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-315) and index.
Contents:
The women -- The party pathway -- Rush and the party scene -- The floor -- Socialites, wannabes, and fit with the party pathway -- Strivers, creaming, and the blocked mobility pathway -- Achievers, underachievers, and the professional pathway -- College pathways and post-college prospects -- Politics and pathways -- Appendix A: Participants -- Appendix B: Studying social class -- Appendix C: Data collection, analysis, and writing -- Appendix D: Ethical considerations.
Summary:
Two young women embark on their education at a big state university. Five years later, one is earning a good salary at a prestigious accounting firm and the other woman is saddled with burdensome debt and a low GPA. In an era of skyrocketing tuition and mounting concern over whether college is "worth it," the authors assess the state of American higher education. They provide a powerful exposé of unmet obligations and misplaced priorities, and explain in vivid detail why so many leave college with so little to show for it. Mapping different pathways available to students at a flagship Midwestern public university, the authors demonstrate that the most well-resourced and seductive route is a "party pathway" anchored in the Greek system, facilitated by the administration--and with serious disadvantages for the majority of students.
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