Engaging Poor and

Working Class
Students
Zach Mellon
Gwyn Howard
 Defining Terms What is Social Class?

an individual’s social ranking as

determined by their income,
wealth, education, status, and
What is Classism? power

“institutional, cultural, and (Leondar-Wright & Yeskel, 2007)

individual set of practices and
beliefs that assign differential Bourdieu’s Types of Capital (1984)
value to people according to
their socio-economic class; and 1. Cultural- knowledge,
an economic system which creates education, preferences
excessive inequality and causes 2. Economic- income and financial
basic human needs to go unmet” resources
(Yeskel & Leondar-Wright, 1997) 3. Social- social networks and
who we know
History of Higher Ed
Revisited

What do you remember

about the history of
elitism and social class
in Higher Education?
Videos
 Issues of Rhetoric
Why are terms such as first-generation, low
income and non-traditional insufficient for
describing the characteristics and needs of this
student population?

What are issues associated with using deficit

models to work with this student population?
 Activity
American Dream Debate

One major ideology in the United States is the idea of the “American
Dream”—that anyone who works hard can get ahead and live a happy and
prosperous life. For this activity, you will debate the topic:
“The American Dream is alive and well.”

Split into two groups, “pro” and “con” stances. Each group will do
their own research to support their position (either that the American
Dream is alive and well or that it is not). 8-10 minutes

Once group preparation are complete, each group will have 2 minutes to
argue their case. We will debrief as a group after completing
presentations.

Activity via Wendy R. Williams, American Psychology Association

 Best Practices
● Increase awareness of and training
on social class identity
● Provide connection points to
peers, administrators, and faculty
from poor or working class
backgrounds
● Examine policies and practices for
classism
● Shift hours of operation or format
of engagement
● Consider basic needs
● Incorporate social class into the
curriculum
● Reduce costs and/or differential
pricing for student involvement
● Help students recognize their
assets
Ardoin, 2020 (textbook chapter)
Discussion
Have you noticed any microaggressive
behaviors and/or classism in your
departments (or on campus)?
When working with a student from a
lower socioeconomic status, how would
you help the student recognize their
assets?
Liu (2011) reports “some students from
poor and working-class backgrounds
subscribe to an independent stance or
believe that help-seeking behaviors
show weakness due to internalized
classism.” As educators, how can we
confront this to better serve our
students?