Amplified Advantage: Going to a Good College in an Era of Inequality

(Hardback)

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Description

Amplified Advantage investigates the value and impact of todays small liberal arts colleges through an extended examination of a recent cohort of students attending them. It demonstrates how these colleges sometimes succeed and sometimes fail in equalizing the experience of all their students. But there is more to the book than that. Although primarily an account of life and learning at small liberal arts colleges in the US today, scholars will find much of theoretical interest underlying the account. The context of the small liberal arts college is used to unpack how class works. Unlike many other books written about class in college, Amplified Advantage is not exclusively focused on how some students fare less well than their peers, but rather how all students strategies are affected by their past experiences and classed expectations, particularly in the context of growing inequality. Amplified Advantage draws on Bourdieus theory of class, particularly his concepts of capitals operating in a field, and habitus as way of understanding agents structured but generative choices, to demonstrate how inequalities are met, resisted, and ultimately reproduced across generations. Chapter by chapter, the book lays out the many ways that class continues to play a role in the college experience, from choosing a major, to frequency of faculty interaction, to participation in the extra-curriculum. The last chapters demonstrate the differential burden of debt on graduates and the impact of varied parental support after graduation. Amplified Advantages adds to our understanding of how class works, the impact of parents and families on social reproduction, and the ways that colleges and universities can contribute to or reduce inequalities.

Reviews

Hurst builds on her celebrated history of explaining how class works at college. Her newest book turns our attention to liberal arts colleges where class plays out in predictable and unpredictable ways. -- Jessi Streib, Author of The Power of the Past: Understanding Cross-Class Marriages

Author Bio

Allison L. Hurst is associate professor of sociology at Oregon State University.