TEACHSOC: Re: need advice

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 08:20:47 -0700

 Hi Karen: I teach at a community college where this issue comes up each and every semester for the past too many years that I've been teaching.  This is in fact the first point we discuss in class before we get to the more "sociological" analysis of social mobility.  It might be "easier" for us here since we're in NYC given a labor market of huge proportions, (in terms of numbers and diversity of economic activity), also a by now labor market that requires a college ed., or it could simply be that many (if not most) of my students come from low income fams for whom upward mobility is simply getting a job that pays above minimum wage with some stability, etc., but I'm "always" "surprised" by the students' "yeah we know but we ain't gonna not try" attitude, if only bcz there are no other options.
Yesterday I was talking with a student in my office who presented the following: he has friends who went thru college, now have careers that earn them between $50-80,000 a year (this is NYC where rents are at a minimum of $1,200 for a small 2 bedroom apartment and average price of a one family home is $600,000), and were he to do the same and end up with this kinda money it would not be enough to support the kind of life style he wants.  So, on the one hand, he stays in school (eventho he says he gets nothing out of it) but he sees that it will not help him have a good standard of living, so he's going the old entrepreneurial route of starting his own business (which is annoying for me bcz he literally answered the phone in class a couple of times already--that's why we had the discussion, ughghg!!!) 
I guess it doesn't matter if they read it in sociology books or not, some of our students already know that a college education may but does not guarantee them a good standard of living but it's a requirement nevertheless... and so toooo many years after teaching, the same ol' same ol' quandry for students who spend all these years investing their time, money and energy in an endeavor that may get them out of the rut or may not.  But in the long term, I always tell them: "$60,000 is better than $30,000.  One is middle income the other is low income." 
 
Anna K.

-----Original Message-----
From: Karen Loeb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 09:41:16 -0400
Subject: TEACHSOC: need advice

Hi all,
 
Yesterday I was discussing the "myth of social mobility" in this country and a boy in my class (who happens to be African-American) raised his hand and said, "so maybe being in college isn't worth my time. . .if I can't buy a better car than my parents or own my own house, what's the point. . ." Other students piped in, and although it was a lively and worthwhile discussion, it left me feeling really bad about, once again, being the bearer of bad news. How do I respond to these students? I told them the whole shpiel--college grads make more money than high school grads, it opens doors, etc. But, is there anything else positive I can say to encourage them and make the picture a little rosier?
 
Karen


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