''Fake It 'Til You Make It'': Why Community College Students' Aspirations ''Hold Steady''

Autor/in	Nielsen, Kelly
Titel	''Fake It 'Til You Make It'': Why Community College Students' Aspirations ''Hold Steady''
Quelle	In: Sociology of Education, 88 (2015) 4, S.265-283 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0038-0407
DOI	10.1177/0038040715601889
Schlagwörter	Two Year College Students; Community Colleges; Academic Aspiration; Postsecondary Education; Student Role; Low Income Groups; Females; Womens Education; Expectation; Moral Values; Social Influences; Semi Structured Interviews; Working Class; Coding; Education Work Relationship; Personal Narratives; Stereotypes; Racial Bias; Gender Bias; Social Bias; Interpersonal Relationship; California + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Community college; Community College; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Weibliches Geschlecht; 'Women''s education'; Frauenbildung; Expectancy; Erwartung; Moral value; Ethischer Wert; Sozialer Einfluss; Arbeiterklasse; Codierung; Programmierung; Erlebniserzählung; Klischee; Racial discrimination; Rassismus; Geschlechterstereotyp; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Kalifornien
Abstract	Sociologists of education have explored the relationship between students' postsecondary aspirations and their propensity to get "cooled out" in community colleges. However, researchers have directed little attention to students whose aspirations remain stable over long periods of time or to the different roles that college degree goals play in the lives of disadvantaged students. Using four waves of longitudinal interviews, I examine the reasons why low-income women hold steady to their aspirations for college degrees over a three-and-a-half-year period. I argue that holding steady not only reflects rational expectations about future employment opportunities, but it also generates moral status in the face of marginalization and facilitates the navigation of personal relationships. I use the concept of an "ambition imperative" to demonstrate how aspirations for college attainment are a means of asserting moral status and pursuing virtuous social membership. This article contributes to theories of aspirations and offers an alternative explanation of the institutional effects of community colleges in the lives of students. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01