We've been in the process of crunching data and writing up our results. We're hoping to start dissemination this fall but we thought we'd give you a preview of some of the questions we asked in the Counseling Student Census just to whet your appetite.
Our research is rooted in Pierre Bourdieu's (1986) conceptualization of social class with its three forms of capital: economic, social, and cultural. It also explores two domains of classism defined by Langhout, Roselli, and Feinstein (2007): institutional classism and interpersonal classism via discounting. The Counseling Student Census asked a variety of questions designed to explore how much capital counseling students hold, what percentage of students struggle in their programs due to lack of capital, and how many students have experienced institutional classism or interpersonal classism via discounting.
We explored the various forms of capital by asking participants about their annual incomes before and during their enrollment in counseling training programs and whether they had anyone else providing them with financial assistance while they were enrolled. We also asked questions about how much debt participants had upon finishing their counseling degrees. Mindful of the fact that many counseling students are also caregivers, we explored whether those who were raising children while enrolled had access to reliable childcare. We also explored how many students were first-generation graduate students and examined the highest education levels in their families of origin.
To explore the kinds of struggles participants faced due to lack of capital, we asked participants multiple questions including: if they had ever been at risk of homelessness during their training program; if they had ever been homeless while enrolled; if they ever missed class due to lack of transportation; and if they had ever struggled to have enough food to eat.
Finally, to explore how often participants experienced institutional classism or interpersonal classism via discounting we asked questions drawn from Langhout, Roselli, and Feinstein's (2007) survey such as whether they had experienced professors being dismissive of their financial situation, whether they were required to purchase things they could not afford (such as professional memberships), and whether their programs offered any paid internships.
The data our participants provided have been illuminating and thought-provoking. We look forward to sharing the results with you in some webinars and papers this fall!
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. New York: Greenwood Press. (pp. 241-258).
Langhout, R.D., Rosselli, F., & Feinstein, J. (2007). Assessing classism in academic settings. The Review of Higher Education, 30(2), 145-184.
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