Sociological Approach

A rising issue in today’s society is deciding whether or not college is worth the cost. There is an extreme amount of pressure that is forced upon high school students by parents, teachers, and peers to further their education and attend college. However, there is research that challenges the thought that college is the best possible path for a person to take. College may be a great investment for some people, but it is not meant for everyone. This is supported by the arguments that colleges are expensive, jobs do not always require a college degree, and students are forced to choose a lifestyle before being exposed to the real world.

These obstacles didn’t stop him even though it put a burden on his life, he was still able to press on and achieve a higher education. “I flourished… I will graduate with a degree in sociology” All of these real life stories show the reader that despite one’s socioeconomic status, anyone can receive an education, not just in high school but in college

As a first generation student to attend college from a family of seven, the journey to a higher education has been arduous and overwhelming. My family gives me all the encouragement I need and are very optimistic about pursuing a higher degree. Unlike myself, my parents did not have the opportunity to attend college. My parents were born and raised in a small town in Mexico where the highest level of education they received was fifth grade. I have worked since I was 14 years old to support my parents with bills, and also saving for college and my own vehicle.

Our whole lives our parents told us that we need to go to college to be successful. They told us that college would insure us a great life, but for many, that isn’t the case. Many students go to college hoping to get a degree, but many drop out due to insufficient funds. While for some, college might be the right choice, that doesn’t mean that college is for all of us. One of the reasons i believe that college isn’t worth it is because of student loans and debt.

In Chapter Seven: Lessons From My Year as a Freshman, Rebekah Nathan summarizes and answers questions on the knowledge she gained from becoming a freshman. The author begins the chapter with a cross-cultural conversation between professors and students. She discusses how professors are not aware of the students living conditions or the effort that goes into achieving a high GPA. Likewise, the students do not understand professor rank and advancement.

In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.

Is college worth the money? This has been a question asked by millions of high school seniors, current college students, graduates, and parents across the United States. Many argue that it opens more doors over those who chose not to attend while others argue that we send too many students all while increasing the national student loan debt. Author Marty Nemko argues in his article, “We Send too Many Students to College,” that too many students are pushed to go to college. Nemko assumes that those reading his article are parents questioning if college is the right decision for their child.

In “College Pressures” by William Zinsser, leader of one of the residential colleges at Yale University, the author describes the different amount of pressures that students struggle with in college. Because of his position at the university, he constantly noticed the students around him and the anxiety that was radiating off them. He believes that economic pressures cause students to feel anxious about paying back student loans after college. However, parental pressure leads students to make decisions that their parents would be happy with because of the feeling of guilt and wanting to please them.

In my intermediate family not everyone went to college and today they still struggle to find a job that pays them well and can finance them for the things they wish to have. Where my eldest aunt went to college and earned her master’s degree and worked a job she loved that payed well and gave her the opportunity to live happy and comfortably. College does not prepare you for a life of bills and credit but it does prepare you for the profession you are aiming

The reasoning of why I enrolled and the factors of how I got into college relate back to C. Wright Mills’s concept of sociological

The adolescent encounters the question “Who am I?” in many different forms, from “What academic areas do I care most about?” to “What kind of social environment is the best match for me?” Another set of challenges bundled into choosing a college concerns the adolescent’s changing relationships with his or her family. All sorts of feelings come into play for young people and their families around the question of whether to live at home while attending college or to go away to school (and, if so, how far away?). Typically, choosing a college also poses difficult questions about finances for adolescents and their families, including what parents can and cannot provide and what financial responsibilities the student will have to assume.

In addition, Ryan Padgett (2012) found that first generation student seems to be more unprepared to interact with faculty upon entering college than students whose parents went to college (p.261). The disadvantage a first-generation student faces upon entering college is due to the lack of contact with individuals who fall outside their parent’s social

Is College Really Worth it? Many college graduates are currently unemployed, which has left many parents wondering, is college really worth it? Some parents believe that college prepares students for more than a job or career, and others don’t think it’s worth the cost. Recent studies have shown that new college students are losing ground on wages by the time they graduate, higher education is becoming a risky investment, and most students are better off developing their own “lower-risk” business.

Perspective is a chosen approach that can be used to study any subject in the field of sociology. These perspectives highlight the diverse methods an individual selects to analyze a theme and how they perceive the society in general. Three sociological perspectives include functionalist, conflict and interactionist perspectives (Thompson, Hickey, & Thompson, 2016, p. 2). Throughout this paper, I examine how we analyze the role of television from the functional, conflict, and interactionist approaches.

Education is affected by social class; directly and indirectly. Looking at directly first we can see that individuals from higher social classes are more likely to have the resources to attend the elicit schools, and as a result have a better chance of receiving high exam results and continuing to third level. While indirectly, people who benefit from these higher educational opportunities are more likely to acquire the top jobs which in turn will result in the highest salaries. Thus education and social class closely connected and one impacts the other. This paper will explore how ones’ social class affects their educational experience and outcome particularly focusing on working-class students.