Research is MUCH more to me than mathematics (statistics).....or looking through a microscope. Social research involves real people--with observable behaviors....and sometimes problems to which tentative solutions may be posed IF researched well. Research is a hands-on, roll-your-sleeves-up-and-dig-in-as-deep-as-you-can type thing--in short, I love qualitative research because it adds a great deal to the existing numbers & statistics so prominantly touted in the sciences of today. Just for clarification, I am NOT implying that 'natural' scientists are any less valuable than are social/behavioral scientists....I feel that *BOTH* types of research are equally valuable. I just prefer people to microscopes, slates, labs, or statistics (even though all of these are important & quite necessary). Although I recognize & acknowledge the intrinsic value of statistics in all scientific research, I also believe that people deserve to be more than *just* numbers or percentages--or something to be peered at through the lens of *anything*.

Having working-class roots (& still very much a member of the working-class despite my education & some "middle-class" ideals/behaviors), I am particularly interested in people with working-class backgrounds. It appears that higher education has become THE (perceived) panacea for poverty--whether or not this works in reality. In case you haven't guessed by now, I am a Sociologist, and my area(s) of interest are Social Reproduction, Stratification/Mobility, & Education.

A great deal is known about why working-class people don't 'succeed' in education....translation: there is a wealth of knowledge that identifies numerous barriers that working-class members face within the institution of education, and scores of working-class members don't pursue higher education (many just choose NOT to attempt to become a replica of the middle class 'ideal' for whatever reasons). My goal is to find out *why* some defy the odds and pursue a college education and *how* those who do actually achieve success in the realm of higher education.

My study targets working-class white males. The reason: *numerous* studies today are done involving blacks, females, and/or other groups of people. I'm interested in white males--THE (presumed) dominant group in this society--because few white working-class males actually 'make it'. Since I have found little research for this specific group, my research is explorative in nature. What follows is the introductory quotes from my honors thesis. If you're REALLY interested, keep reading...if not, now's a good time to stop scrolling. :)

If you can offer me any insight, assistance, or if you're a "working-class white male in pursuit of higher education" and would agree to talk with me about your experiences, please email me:

All work below is my own....NO COPIES OR DUPLICATION WITHOUT AUTHOR'S EXPRESSED PERMISSION, and any (re)publication or copy *must* be attributed & credited to its rightful author.

Common Threads in the Cloak of Achievement

by:

Cathy Hyslop Hammack

Introductory Quotes:

"I ain’t goin’ to college. Who wants to go to college? I’d just end up gettin’ a shitty job anyway." So says Freddie Pinella, described as "an intelligent 11 year old boy from Clarendon Heights, a low-income housing development in a northeastern city." So, in fact, say most of the teenage, white males who live in the project where MacLeod undertook a study to see why these underclass youths had such leveled aspirations. The decision of the youths to drop out of school was noted by MacLeod as a "logical choice." For them, the cards have already been shuffled and dealt, and there Ain’t No Makin’ It, so why bother?

Jay MacLeod, 1987, Ain’t No Makin’ It, p.1

 

"When you were little, what did you think you’d like to be when you grew up?

A hard question for most people from poor homes--one that focuses sharply on the limitations that poverty exacts upon the future of its victims...

  • ‘We were maybe one step above what you would call white trash. If we thought about it at all, we would have considered ourselves lucky to get through high school. Most of the kids in the family didn’t do that. There was no demand on any of us for any goal. You see, my father wasn’t an educated man. He was taken out of school when he was nine, and him not having an education, it kept him from seeing a lot of hopes for his kids. He can hardly write his own name, even now. Oh, I guess he didn’t want us to be just ordinary laborers like he was, but it wasn’t ever talked about. Like, going to college was never discussed. It never occurred to me to think about it. That was something other kids--rich kids--did. All I knew was that I’d have to work, and I didn’t think much about what kind of work I’d be doing. There didn’t seem much point in thinking about it, I guess.’

    • In fact, there not only ‘wasn’t much point in thinking about it,’ there was no way to think about it. For in order to plan for the future, people must believe it possible to control their fate--a belief that can only be held if nourished in experience. That seldom happens in working-class life."

    Lillian Rubin, 1976, Worlds of Pain, pp. 37-38

     

    As far back as I can remember, I believed my father a genius--even though dad dropped out of school in the seventh grade. Dad was exceptionally adept in everything from electronics to automobile repairs. Even so, he couldn’t find a job lucrative enough to support our family of six although he always worked hard and never missed a day. As a child, I remember always thinking, 'If Dad just had the paper to prove he’s smart, he could get a job paying really good money and then we wouldn’t be so poor.' Dad never got the paper, and when he retired in October 1983, he was making just over $13,000 annually--not a lot for a genius. College was never discussed when I was growing up although a high school diploma was held sacred by my parents; mom was a high school graduate but never aspired to have a career. College may have been something that other, rich, people could do, but not us. This was just understood, and there was no reason to discuss something so out of reach. So, I never considered going to college; I, like all my siblings, dropped out of high school. I got married, then divorced. A dropout and single-parent, I entered the workforce and, of necessity, accepted work in dead-end jobs and swallowed the humiliation of being passed over for promotions time and time again--indeed, I felt lucky to have a job. But the more exposure I gained to the world of work, the more I became convinced that I had far more potential than the jobs I obtained would allow me to explore. Dad had taught me to work hard and take pride in whatever I did; this was supposed to assist me in gaining recognition and advancement at work (promotions, raises, etc.). I tried this approach, but it didn’t pay off (for me or him). Instead, I learned from bitter experience that working hard gets you nowhere without the credentials to increase opportunities. Finally at the age of 23, distraught with my situation of severe poverty even though I worked full time, exasperated with dead-end jobs in which I couldn’t progress and having to raise my daughter in the slum, and fed up with the oppression I found so inescapable in the world of work, I went back to school seeking ‘the paper’ in a last-ditch effort for liberation and increased opportunities. I have attained a GED, two Associate degrees, and I have 12 hours to complete before earning a Bachelor Degree. I intend to continue my journey to achieve the Master’s and Doctorate. Could I financially afford to undertake this journey? NO! But perhaps a better question might be, could I afford NOT to? Given the economic situation in this country, considering the emphasis on higher education in the job market, and given the fact that I am a woman of lower class origin (which are both distinct disadvantages--even with a higher degree), if I truly intend to succeed, I must continue the journey, for only upon accomplishing the highest degree of academic success possible can I feel more confident that education will not be a plausible reason for an employer to block my advancement; only then can I feel reasonably secure in the degree of credibility and increased bargaining power I possess in the job market; only then do I have a chance to succeed, for only then might I don the cloak of achievement and perhaps break the chains binding me in lower socioeconomic stagnation.

    Sound interesting or something you are willing to spend a little time participating in??? If you feel that you can offer me any insight, assistance, and/or if you're a "working-class white male in pursuit of higher education" (or one who has succeeded in attaining a degree) and will agree to talk to me about your experiences please STOP HERE and email me to let me know!!!

    If you can't participate in my research and/or are a professor, student, or just an interested 'soul', then by all means please read the thesis itself....Common Threads in the Cloak of Achievement Please remember that it's a work in progress--I hope to continue this research at the graduate level!

    Again...if you are of working-class roots &/or can offer any insight and/or assistance, or if you'd just like to know more about my research....please EMAIL ME!

     

    Thanks to Professor Richard Jensen of Ballston Spa, NY for contributing the following information & links:

    CARL--articles; have a very comprehensive listing and sell articles for about $12

    MELVYL--the best library catalog; U California libraries;  searches (will mail results/updates); all for free

    NorthernLight--for web searches and scholarly articles (free abstracts); sells fulltext articles, 50 for $5