Working Class Education - Attitudes

Attitudes

The children of the working class approach school with a different attitude than those of higher class. This is because their sense of entitlement is lower than that of their middle class counterparts. Working-class students sometimes feel unentitled or that they do not belong in affluent high schools or colleges. Instead of viewing education as a way up in the world, the working class views it as valuable but not as a reality for them. For working class parents, they are more consumed with the tasks of simply getting by and providing for their children than they are with good grades and higher education. Parents pass this survival mentality onto their children and cause a cycle where working class children do not have the same aspirations instilled in them that the middle class does. Only 54% of students whose parents only received their high school diploma go on to pursue their bachelor’s degree. This statistic is compared to the 82% of students whose parents received their bachelor’s degree that go on to college. First generation students who do on go to college experience a culture shock once they get there because they are not as comfortable and sure of themselves as those that have come from a family that has received higher education. Indeed, a recent review of the literature has shown that working-class students have a greater risk of being excluded from social life at universities, including formal activities such as campus-based clubs, societies, and organizations and informal activities such as parties and nonclassroom conversations. This is an important problem because social integration predicts student retention, and working class students are twice as likely as middle class students to drop out before their second year of college because they lack the persistence they need to face challenges and succeed in college.

The attitude of children born into the working class strongly reflects the way their parents raise them. The outlook and importance of education is not the same as families with wealth. Inheritance plays a strong role in the way parents and children view and value education.