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6. Channeling Long and Wrong
- State University of New York Press
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CHAPTER 6 Channeling Long and Wrong How the seeds of desire for upward mobility are planted, who plants them, and how they are cultivated are interesting phenomena . Equally interesting is what happens when there are strong desires, and yet no cultivation of those desires. This metaphor of the seeds of desire describes what often happens when students, in this case African Americans, have the desire for upward mobility through education but lack the forces to cultivate their desires into the actuality of college participation—which is especially the case for first-generation college-goers. While there is research on how the seeds get planted, that is, influences on the college choice process (e.g., Hearn, 1991; Hossler & Gallagher, 1987), researchers and educators are often perplexed when it comes to determining a prescription for cultivating the seeds (mediating the decisionmaking process) when there are social or cultural differences. There is widespread agreement among researchers that the process of deciding to attend college is begun in the home by the parents and, more often than not, is determined by the father’s level of education and occupation (Anderson & Hearn, 1992; Hossler, Braxton, & Coopersmith, 1989). As part 1 of this book suggests, the influences on African American students can include extended family members, and equally as important as the father’s level of education is the influence of the mother. There is a lot less 59 known about what, if anything, outside the home can influence the desire. However, some researchers have examined the forces outside the home which channel the decision-making process from several perspectives, including geographical and school factors (Orfield et al., 1984; Thomas, 1980). By all accounts, for students who come from homes where parents are not college educated, the role of schools in helping these students fill the information void about the college choice process takes on greater proportions. The issue, then, becomes whether schools can or should act as channelers in the college choice process of students who are socially or culturally different. The intent of this chapter is to explore several questions as they relate to channeling: (1) What exactly is channeling? (2) How does channeling impact students’ decision process to choose to participate in higher education? (3) Can forces such as school factors mediate social and cultural differences, for example , African American students’ choosing to pursue postsecondary education? Understanding Channeling The term channeling can be defined as the environmental forces (whether individuals, institutions, or circumstances) that influence the direction of students’ postsecondary choices. By all accounts, the influences on students are both individual and familial and school-related factors. The question as to the degree of influence of either individual or school factors on different cultural groups such as African Americans has been greatly underexplored. Orfield et al. (1984) conducted a comprehensive study of access to and choice concerning higher education in Chicago which concluded that minorities are channeled into college based on defined geographic locations where they live. Channeling, as it relates to college choice, of course, cuts across both social and cultural capital and economic and financial capital. That is, the more capital an individual has, whether cultural or economic, the more likely it will be for that individual to be influenced by forces internal to the home. Chapters 1 and 4 illustrate channeling influences internal to the home (see figure 6. 1). 60 African Americans and College Choice [3.140.185.170] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 19:21 GMT) Figure 6.1. Channeling Influences on College Choice Internal to the Home Channeling: Internal Influences Channeling internal to the home, as pointed out in chapter 1, includes the influences of the family on the postsecondary decision -making process of their children. Understanding channeling helps to provide information on not just who in the family influences the decision process but also the ways in which family influences this process. In addition to family members, economics also plays a role in channeling students to choose higher education. As demonstrated in chapter 4, individuals who are not a part of the majority population are channeled by economic expectations of costs and expected earnings after college. In this instance, African American students can be influenced negatively by job market ceilings faced by other African Americans. While family is an example of individuals influencing the decision-making process, economic expectations are an example of circumstances that channel the direction students will go in. And, since many African Americans are first-generation college-goers and legitimately perceive the job...