[lbo-talk] The new disparity: women vastly outnumber men in college

[Alan Rudy]

I wish I'd had Shag's account to draw on today - I taught the chapter on
Crackhouse Management from Bourgois' book, In Search of Respect: Selling
Crack in El Barrio, in my Intro classes today. I used Somebody Somebody's
link and the table that's a few paragraphs into the story to talk about
differential opportunity structures as a lead in to Bourgois and, while we
came up with  Matthais' and a number of Shag's points, there are a number
that would have added value to the discussion.  My students, many from areas
of MI north of Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids stressed 1) the need to
find/get a job as soon as high school ends and 2) folks who join the
military to go to college after the 18-24 age group in the contexts.orgaccount.

On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 4:24 PM, shag carpet bomb <shag at cleandraws.com>wrote:


> At 02:56 AM 10/15/2009, Somebody Somebody wrote:
>
>> Then, what is it about being poor, black or Hispanic, and male that
>> results in low male enrollment in college and a higher drop out rate? Link:
>> <
>> http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/10/14/college-enrollment-and-completion-the-intersectionality-of-class-race-and-gender/>
>>
>>
>
> my observations of Testosterone Central [1] and my son who grew up in a
> poor/working class neighborhood, as well as a sociological literature on
> this same demographic is that they often feel that their gender identities
> are realized through how much money they have in their wallet. and while
> working at the shoe store in the mall ain't much, you get a discount on
> sneaks and some clothes, and have cash in your wallet whereas putting
> yourself through school means working a part-time or full-time job, and
> having very little cash in your pocket.
>
> the other reason, and this is well-known in the literature, is thatt young
> women absolutely know that they can't get anywhere without a college degree.
> young women of color know this even more. their rates are rising. in terms
> of socialization, they see no women around them working in "good" jobs that
> are doing so without a college degree.
> ...SNIP...
>