Description
Book SynopsisAmplified Advantage investigates the value and impact of today's small liberal arts colleges through an extended examination of a recent cohort of students attending them. It demonstrates how these colleges sometimes succeed and sometimes fail in equalizing the experience of all their students. But there is more to the book than that. Although primarily an account of life and learning at small liberal arts colleges in the US today, scholars will find much of theoretical interest underlying the account. The context of the small liberal arts college is used to unpack how class works. Unlike many other books written about class in college, Amplified Advantage is not exclusively focused on how some students fare less well than their peers, but rather how all students' strategies are affected by their past experiences and classed expectations, particularly in the context of growing inequality. Amplified Advantage draws on Bourdieu's theory of class, particularly his concepts of capitals ope
Trade ReviewHurst (sociology, Oregon State Univ.) examines whether small liberal arts colleges (SLACs) amplify or ameliorate preexisting class disparities. To illustrate the impact class has on student outcomes and experiences, the author uses surveys, observations, and interview data collected from students at several SLACs. She employs central concepts of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory on class, such as capital and habitus, to frame the results of her study. Through stories and thick description, Hurst unpacks the complexity of how social class influences students’ strategies, such as what they choose to study and what they do after graduation. This research shows that SLACs offer an invaluable education to students of all social classes, but ultimately students from economically privileged backgrounds fare better than their peers despite having similar curricular and extracurricular experiences. Although the tone and style of this book are appropriate for academics, general audiences may also find the text appealing and highly readable. . . Hurst’s well-researched book is insightful and should be read by students, faculty, and college administrators. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduates through faculty, and professionals.
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Hurst builds on her celebrated history of explaining how class works at college. Her newest book turns our attention to liberal arts colleges – where class plays out in predictable and unpredictable ways. -- Jessi Streib, Author of The Power of the Past: Understanding Cross-Class Marriages
Amplified Advantage is essential reading for all those concerned about inequalities in higher education. Richly theorised, evocatively reflexive, and beautifully written, the book captures and sustains the reader's interest through a rich synergy of qualitative and quantitative research that weaves together the lived experiences of young people in higher education. Its powerful and provocative message that a university degree is no longer enough to redress social class inequalities is one we all need to heed. -- Diane Reay, University of Cambridge
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: A Short History of Higher Education and the Small Liberal Arts College in the US
Chapter Three: Orientation: Understanding Who Goes to Small Liberal Arts Colleges and Why?
Chapter Four: Agency and Constraint in the College Selection Process
Chapter Five: Paying for College
Chapter Six: Learning the Liberal Arts: The Curriculum
Chapter Seven: Living the Liberal Arts: Campus Life
Chapter Eight: Outside the College Gates
Chapter Nine: Graduating (in a Recession)
Chapter Ten: Conclusion: Habitus, Capitals, Game
Appendix: The School to Work Study
Notes
References
Index
About the Author
