Straddling Class in the Academy by Sonja Ardoin and Becky Martinez (review)

Aspects of social class show up in every facet of our work and lives, in ways that expand well beyond monetary resources. This is true for practitioners and faculty members in higher education, as they are both informed and impacted by classed aspects of curriculum, programming, and institutional culture. These types of experiences and tensions are common and often anticipated in personal interactions (e.g., casual lunches, departmental socials, standards of dress, etc.). Just as common, but likely less anticipated, are the classed manifestations of more formal aspects of work, such as interviewing, or performance evaluations and expectations. Present but often missed are the navigational, cultural, human, aspirational, linguistic, familial, resistant, and social forms of capital that propagate in institutions (Faulstich Orellana, 2003; Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001; Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Yosso, 2005). The authors raised these various sentiments by elevating the stories of practitioners and scholars throughout this book, and by highlighting their own experiences navigating social class.

This book reflected the findings from a narrative inquiry study, where 26 higher education practitioners and scholars were invited to share their stories about navigating social class from their various social and institutional locations. The authors employed Bourdieu’s Cultural and Social Capital Model (1977), Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model, Liu and colleagues (2004) Social Class Worldview Model, and Hurst’s (2010) Social Class Concepts as the theoretical frameworks. This grounding is important for understanding and analyzing participants’ narratives. The authors also made connections between the founding of higher education and the barriers people face while navigating the system of higher education, particularly through each account presented. Lastly, the authors suggested how practitioners can use this information to make changes on their campuses regarding policies, programs, and practices.

In the second and third chapters, the authors showcased stories of three undergraduate and three graduate students. The authors detailed the nuances of their development and recognition of social capital. This section focused on undergraduate experiences and addressed the development of social class identity in this population. The authors elaborated on how college campuses were originally set-up and how class can be an invisible identity on campus. Lastly, the authors addressed how social class shows up across social identities, showcasing that white folks tend to note social class as money and poverty, while folks of color can note the navigational and cultural wealth that exists within capital alongside the monetary existence in social class. As a change, professionals should adjust introductory courses for incoming students to include the various types of capital and think critically about the strengths students exhibit that may not have been recognized prior, and continually affirm those strengths.

Continuing, the following three chapters spanned the nexus of experiences by practitioners felt across early, mid, and senior career levels. In the early career section, the authors addressed imposter syndrome¹, as well as the realization that the socialization into the field was in fact acclimation to the middle and upper-class domain. The authors also addressed the low salaries in the field at this stage and how residential life positions that offer housing and other benefits capitalize on the working and poor class because this security was essential for survival. The mid-career section further expanded these complications by adding responsibility to self and family, and the weighted risk that raising concerns and providing challenge to institutional practices can have on job security and social mobility.

Additionally, authors noted this real or perceived climb of the social ladder, and how it worsened their connection to home roots. Furthermore, the section that addressed senior career level challenges provided examples such as having sat in boardrooms and being further from the groundwork but while simultaneously acting as a bridge for the working and poor class experiences in those spaces. The authors reasserted that even though these practitioners had ascended, their social class backgrounds still made space for imposter syndrome¹. To support these practitioners, institutions should be cognizant of...