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  • PPL Colloquium - Melissa Osborne

PPL Colloquium - Melissa Osborne

    College of Liberal Arts
    image of Melissa wearing a plaid button down shirt and glasses smiling at the camera with a picture of her book cover next to her against a tan background

    Dr. Melissa Osborne, Western Washington University, presents:

    Polished: College, Class, and the Burdens of Social Mobility

    While college initiates a major transition in all students’ lives, low-income and first-generation students attending elite schools are often entering entirely new worlds. Amid the financial and academic challenges of adapting to college, their emotional lives, too, undergo a transformation. Surrounded by peers from different classes and cultural backgrounds, they are faced with an impossible choice: turn away from their former lives to blend in or stay true to themselves and remain on the outside.

    An ethnography that draws on in-depth interviews with one hundred and fifty first-generation and low-income students across eighteen elite institutions, Polished uncovers the hidden consequences of the promise of social mobility in today’s educational landscape. Sociologist Melissa Osborne reveals how the very support designed to propel first-generation students forward can unexpectedly reshape their identities, often putting them at odds with their peers and families. Without direct institutional support, this emotional journey can lead to alienation, mental health challenges, poor academic outcomes, and difficult choices between upward mobility or maintaining authenticity and community. Whether you’re an educator, advocate, or student, Polished provides a powerful perspective on the uncharted challenges of social mobility and personal identity during college.

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    Additional Info

    Created By: College of Liberal Arts, Public Policy Lab
    Open To: Public
    Intended Audience: Open to all
    Type: Lecture
    Tags: PPL Colloquium Series

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