Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality

345 Pages·2013·2.169 MB·English

by  Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura T. Hamilton

P a y i n g

f o r t h e
P a r t y
how college maintains inequality
ElizabEth a. armstrong • laura t. hamilton
PAYING FOR THE PARTY

Paying for the Party
How College Maintains In e qual ity
Elizabeth A. Armstrong
Laura T. Hamilton
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, En gland 2013
Copyright © 2013 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Armstrong, Elizabeth A.
Paying for the party : how college maintains inequality / Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura T.
Hamilton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-674-04957-4 (alk. paper)
1. Women college students—United States—Social conditions. 2. Educational
sociology—United States. 3. Public universities and colleges—United States. I. Hamilton,
Laura T. (Laura Teresa) II. Title.
LC1756.A76 2013
378.19822—dc23 2012036068
To the women who shared their college experiences with us

Contents
List of Figures and Tables ix
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1 The Women 26
2 The Party Pathway 50
3 Rush and the Party Scene 74
4 The Floor 94
5 Socialites, Wannabes, and Fit with the Party Pathway 118
6 Strivers, Creaming, and the Blocked Mobility Pathway 148
7 Achievers, Underachievers, and the Professional Pathway 180
8 College Pathways and Post- College Prospects 209
9 Politics and Pathways 234
Appendix A: Participants 255
Appendix B: Studying Social Class 263
Appendix C: Data Collection, Analysis, and Writing 267
Appendix D: Ethical Considerations 275
Notes 279
References 297
Ack now ledg ments 317
Index 323

Figures and Tables
Figures
I.1 Accounting for college experiences and class trajectories 8
4.1 Layout of the fl oor 99
Tables
I.1 Class projects, college pathways, org ani z at ion al imperatives,
and the fl ow of students through the university 9
1.1 MU undergraduates, 2004– 2005, versus fl oor residents 31
1.2 Class background of study participants 32
1.3 Class-b ased resources 37
2.1 The social calendar 55
5.1 Socialite and wannabe college experiences 120
5.2 Socialite and wannabe post-c ollege trajectories 137
6.1 S triver college experiences 150
6.2 Striver trajectories: stayers versus leavers 169
7.1 Achiever and underachiever college experiences 183
7.2 Achiever and underachiever trajectories 198
8.1 Trajectories at college exit of privileged women 211
8.2 Trajectories at college exit of less privileged women 214
A.1 Study participants 256
A.2 Interviews collected by year 259
ix