Exploration of Social Class and its Impact on Education
The spring semester of my 1st year as a student at the University of Cincinnati, I decided to take up a job in the Learning Assistance Center as a Peer Tutor for Biology, Chemistry, Sociology, Phycology, and Statistics. In order to make my experience as a tutor more meaningful, I decided to examine the influence of Social Class on the Level of Education in college students. I decided because I would be meeting with such a wide array of people all of different backgrounds, I would be able to get a glimpse into how their backgrounds impacted their level of education. I also decided to use literature to supplement some of my observations to see what other experts had to say. During the semester I decided to conduct this study, I kept a blog (the link of which will be at the bottom of this page) detailing the most important experiences that I had as a tutor and my interactions with other students.
Most literature that I read, including Social Class and Education by Lois Weis and Nadine Dobey explain that much post-secondary education is limited by the amount of money that people have. This specific hardship was not really something that I had to experience because of my family’s financial standings; however, i found something interesting in the literature Weis and Dobey that pointed out that individuals who come from more affluent families tend to take what they have for granted in regards to their educational opportunities. Because of this, their education level is not as high. This specific view is not something that I really would have considered beforehand.
Going into the future, I know that that aspect of learning will be something I can keep in mind, especially with the various jobs that I will be doing in the future as a continuing Peer Tutor, as a SOL, and as a Doctor in the future. Although I will not be in the academic setting once I begin practicing medicine, I will be dealing with people from different backgrounds who have different access to education. In this sense, I will leave from this experience with a greater understanding of people and a more empathetic worldview, which will allowed me to go out into the world and work with people from many different backgrounds in an effective manner.
Below is the Link to the aforementioned blog:
http://austintutoring.tumblr.com.
Most literature that I read, including Social Class and Education by Lois Weis and Nadine Dobey explain that much post-secondary education is limited by the amount of money that people have. This specific hardship was not really something that I had to experience because of my family’s financial standings; however, i found something interesting in the literature Weis and Dobey that pointed out that individuals who come from more affluent families tend to take what they have for granted in regards to their educational opportunities. Because of this, their education level is not as high. This specific view is not something that I really would have considered beforehand.
Going into the future, I know that that aspect of learning will be something I can keep in mind, especially with the various jobs that I will be doing in the future as a continuing Peer Tutor, as a SOL, and as a Doctor in the future. Although I will not be in the academic setting once I begin practicing medicine, I will be dealing with people from different backgrounds who have different access to education. In this sense, I will leave from this experience with a greater understanding of people and a more empathetic worldview, which will allowed me to go out into the world and work with people from many different backgrounds in an effective manner.
Below is the Link to the aforementioned blog:
http://austintutoring.tumblr.com.