I based my speculation on direct experience with working class guys, I worked with for thirty years. I developed a kind of split personality so I could have work friends and just never brought up most of the things I was interested in studying and enjoying. My bosses had a very similar mentality. Their only interest was making money, keeping wages down, and screwing any competition, mostly by demonization.
Over the years I noticed a change in students. Their only interest in school was the possible job and wages and had very little to no interest in their major subject. In all those years I met one philosophy PhD and one Art MA. They stood out because they were deeply interested in their subjects.
These sociological changes got a real boost just a couple of weeks ago, when this young guy who lived downstairs and who went to CCAC (California College of Arts and Crafts) graduated without taking a figure drawing class or learned to paint. His roomate told me he majored in ceramics.
CG