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Paying for the Party reading worksheet for the Introduction and the Appendices. ...

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SOCI 140, Fall 2019

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Paying for the Party – Reading questions for the “Introduction” and Appendices C and D Overall, what is the main argument the authors are advancing? The authors are arguing that student experiences during college are fundamentally shaped by the structure of academic and social life on campus which is predetermined by one’s individual background. Their argument begins by saying that your class background (highly privileged, less privileged, or educationally privileged) determines your class project, which is basically what you want out of college. Many privileged, affluent students want class reproduction through social culture, meaning that they want to focus on the social aspect of school and through this they will make connections, develop friendships, and eventually find a partner. This is typically seen and supported through the “party pathway” in which the university morphs the school to appeal to these students who have money and require little cost. This is then supported through easy majors in order to keep the students academically sound. However, this typically results in isolating the privileged from the less privileged. These students college experiences are portrayed as either being a socialite or a wannabe. Meanwhile, many students from the working and middle class view higher education as a means of social mobility, their main avenue to moving up the latter. This is characterized by hard working students dedicated to their studies that are often naturally excluded from the party scene. These students typically take the “mobility pathway” in which they undergo vocational training in a specific field. This is accomplished by the university by leveling the playing field of money and resources for less privileged students. Social integration is key for the continuation of less privileged students; however, this is normally accomplished by increasing the number of less privileged students on campus thus creating “protective segregation”. These students college careers are illustrated as being “strivers”. Lastly, educationally privileged students are typically ambitious students that come from privileged and involved families. These students want class reproduction through achievement. They strive to achieve academic success, social success, etc. in order to eventually embark on high- status professional careers. These students are characterized by “effortless perfection” amongst women, meaning that they strive to be successful in all realms of college. They typically take the “professional pathway” in which competition plays a large role. The idea of laundering privilege is an important concept in this pathway as the resources needed to succeed are typically only accessible to well-prepared, more affluent students. This pathways requires the investment of parents and the combination of outside sources for academic growth such as leadership, community service, etc. These students college experiences are classified as achievers. Overall, the authors are arguing that one’s class background determines one’s class project thus defining their college pathway and eventually shaping their class trajectory through the analysis of the examples above. How did they conduct their study? This study was conducted through the combination of micro and macro efforts. The data was collected from 5 years of ethnographic observations and interviews. The team got permission by administration in Residence Life and then obtained approval from IRB. They then created a diverse team that spent the 2004-2005 schoolyear observing and interacting with the women on the floor. They conducted longitudinal interviews to analyze how small, early events grew into long-term issues which set women on different trajectories exposing deeper connections between

social, sexual, and academic life. This study went on for 5 years including many different researchers thus gaining new perspectives. Over the course of 5 years, they conducted 202 interviews including many participants that would not usually be represented. Armstrong and Hamilton identify three pathways through the university: party, mobility, and professional. Looking at their model, do you see these college pathways at JMU? Yes, I think at any college you can see all of these pathways present among any given group of people. I think at JMU especially, the party pathway is the most frequently taken. JMU does have a reputation of being a party school and therefore, it is not surprising that many affluent, privileged students come here for the social aspect. In the reading, they mentioned that the university takes measures to make the campus appeal more to affluent students because these students cost very little for the university and therefore they can easily admit more of these students. One of the aspects mentioned was having big sports teams, having Greek life, and creating large recreation centers. UREC is one of the key markers of JMU because it is so grand and has everything there is to offer at a gym. This is an example of how JMU tries to appeal to more affluent students in order to influence them to apply there. In addition, JMU does provide a wide variety of “easier” majors that allows students to be able to party every night of the week if they wanted to. Our Greek life is very involved on campus and provides lots of students with a very intense social schedule. In addition, if you don’t want to get involved in Greek life, JMU provides a massive amount of clubs that also have intensive social schedules. Although the party pathway is the most obvious at JMU, the motility and professional pathways are also apparent. There are many students that go here on scholarship or completing work-study that are less privileged and extremely hard working. We have many majors at JMU such as the ones mentioned in the reading: nursing, teaching, accounting. The professional pathway is also apparent at JMU. There are many women that strive for “effortless perfection” at JMU. Many of them have major leadership roles while involved in many clubs and working to achieve good grades. Overall, JMU does have all three pathways apparent, however, I do think that the party pathway is the most apparent here similar to other public universities....