Description
Book SynopsisAn ethnographic analysis of how insecurity is at the heart of contemporary higher education. Institutions of higher education are often described as ivory towers, places of privilege where students exist in a campus bubble, insulated from the trials of the outside world. These metaphors reveal a widespread belief that college provides young people with stability and keeps insecurity at bay. But for many students, that's simply not the case. Degrees of Riskreveals how insecurity permeates every facet of college life for students at public universities. Sociologist Blake Silver dissects how these institutions play a direct role in perpetuating uncertainty, instability, individualism, and anxiety about the future. Silver examined interviews with more than one hundred students who described the risks that surrounded every decision: which major to choose, whether to take online classes, and how to find funding. He expertly identified the ways the college experience played out different
