About the Book
"Straddling Class in theAcademy is an important book, filled with honest and powerful narrativesfrom students, staff and faculty. It expands our understanding of poor andworking class backgrounds and informs our next steps in addressing the dynamicsof social class in our college classrooms and workspaces. Read this book anddiscover truths that confirm our own reality about social class on campus, challenge us to think differently, and compel us to take action."
--Paulette M. Dalpes, Vice President of Student Affairs, Community College of Aurora "Ardoin and martinez have compiled a vital resource for all in academia. Together with their co-authors, theyprovide invaluable first-hand accounts that help readers take ownership oftheir own class identity while also providing possibility models and pathwaysfor persistence. Perhaps the largest contribution this book makes to highereducation is that it provides narratives and tools to build campuses that serveequitably across class. This book is a must-read for all in highereducation."--Peter Paquette, Dean of Students, Coastal Carolina University
Why do we feel uncomfortable talking about class? Why is it taboo? Why do people often address class through coded terminology like trashy, classy, and snobby? How does discriminatory language, or how do conscious or unconscious derogatory attitudes, or the anticipation of such behaviors, impact those from poor and working class backgrounds when they straddle class?
Through 26 narratives of individuals from poor and working class backgrounds - ranging from students, to multiple levels of administrators and faculty, both tenured and non-tenured - this book provides a vivid understanding of how people can experience and straddle class in the middle, upper, or even elitist class contexts of the academy.
Through the powerful stories of individuals who hold many different identities--and naming a range of ways they identify in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and religion, among others--this book shows how social class identity and classism impact people's experience in higher education and why we should focus more attention on this dimension of identity.
A concluding chapter proposes means for both increasing social class consciousness and social class inclusivity in the academy.
About the Author :
Sonja Ardoin, Ph.D. is a learner, educator, facilitator, and author. Proud of her rural hometown of Vidrine, Louisiana, her working-class, Cajun roots, and her first-generation college student to PhD journey, Sonja holds degrees from LSU, Florida State, and NC State. A self-described scholar-practitioner, Sonja served as an administrator for 10 years before shifting to the faculty in 2015 and currently serves as associate professor of higher education and student affairs at Clemson University. Her career path includes experience in academic administration, academic advising, community engagement, fraternity and sorority life, leadership development, student activities, and student conduct. Sonja studies social class identity in higher education; college access and success for rural and first-generation college students; student and women's leadership; and professional preparation and career pathways in higher education and student affairs. She stays engaged in the broader field through presenting, facilitating, and volunteering with ACPA, AFLV, ASHE, the Center for First-generation Student Success, NASPA, and several journal editorial boards. Learn more about Sonja at https: //www.sonjaardoin.com/. dr. becky martinez is a class-straddling Mixed Race Woman of Color who loves engaging in social class and class(ism). She humbly comes from a family of farmers that now finds herself a first-generation white-collar professional and is still working through what that means. In her professional capacity, becky is an organization development consultant and trainer with a focus on social justice, leadership and organizational change with Infinity Martinez Consulting and a faculty member with the Social Justice Training Institute. Her work centers on dismantling systems of oppression through critical reflection and dialogue intertwined with theoretical models and key concepts. She is passionate about systems thinking while working with campuses, government agencies and community-based organizations to be more equitable with their policies, practices and procedures through an inclusion lens. Prior to consultancy, she was an administrator within the California State University and the University of California systems as well as private liberal arts colleges. She is a Co-Lead facilitator for the LeaderShape Institute, has been a certified trainer for the Anti-Defamation League and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, and a certified counselor-advocate through Peace over Violence in Los Angeles. Connect further with becky and her work at www.infinitymartinez.com. Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington, President, Washington Consulting Group (WCG); President & Co-Founder, Social Justice Training Institute (SJTI); President (2019), ACPA - College Student Educators International.
Review :
"[The book offers] many important implications for practice. First, as institutions engage in diversity, inclusion, and justice work, they should more intentionally include social class in the conversations. Second, institutional leaders should reconsider how their policies, practices, and cultures are classed, work to address the barrier that low Socio Economic Status community members may experience. This is especially important for new practitioners transitioning into the field. Practitioners, across different levels of class, must do self-work necessary to address the classist messaging and behaviors that they have internalized. Lastly, there are ways that everyone in institutions can engage in this work because all are impacted by social class. This is important to reduce the burden of change that is often carried by marginalized people. Recognition that social class needs to be a central consideration, and continued conversations in higher education, will create space for structural, cultural, and policy changes."-- "College Student Affairs Journal"
"Straddling Class in the Academy is a must read for students and educators. Ardoin, martinez, and theircontributors masterfully challenge the myth that class is invisible by sharingtheir lived experiences navigating class and classism in and outside of theacademy. The intersectional nature of contributors' narratives and Ardoin andmartinez's analysis highlights the powerful effects of classism and calls foraction if we are to create more inclusive and socially just institutions."--Rosemary J. Perez, Assistant Professor, School of Education "Iowa State University"
"Employing narrative inquiry as themethodology, each chapter includes the personal accounts of two to fourindividuals serving as the chapters' shared stories, followed by a narrativeanalysis from Ardoin and martinez. By applying a critical lens, the authors conscientiouslyexplore the accounts of those identifying as poor and working class and the impactthis socioeconomic characteristic has had on their time within thepostsecondary environment. As a whole, the text provides a thoughtful approachto examine a membership within the postsecondary environment that, as theauthors note, is not frequently discussed or advocated for. Including thepersonal accounts of students, administrators, and faculty members who have experiencedthe obstacles associated with, and identify as, being a current or previousmember of a poor and working-class background, Ardoin and martinez create anincredible setting to share the various life stories that shaped and influencedthe journeys to and within the academy for the individuals highlightedthroughout the text.
The authors begin the text with a detailedexplanation of the placement on social class within society, as well as withinthe higher education environment. Presenting a comprehensive description of socialclass identity, as well as the constructs of classism and social justice, theauthors provide current findings and statistics that serve as an empiricalfoundation for the subsequent personal accounts from individuals sharing theirexperiences of identifying as poor or working class. The opening of the textalso creates a robust groundwork for the concept of class straddling--a theme that will beroutinely addressed by the included stories of the undergraduate and graduatestudents, faculty, and administrators included within the book. The authorsframe the text through several theoretical models.
Through the use of these theoretical frameworks, theauthors create a distinct lens for the reader to look through as they progressthrough the chapters and shared stories. By incorporating the noted frameworks, the authors create a unique stance on the topic; through the use of the threemodels, the authors construct a conceptual understanding that lends to eachchapter's narrative analysis. In Chapter 1, Ardoin and martinez identify.
Overall, the text engages the reader and providesthe opportunity to explore social class challenges and experiences of the manywho participate in the postsecondary environment. This book serves as awelcomed contribution, providing vital insight on a topic in need of furtherinvestigation."
-- "The Review of Higher Education"
"What Straddling is at its core is 26 individual stories, each written in anindividuals' own words, recounting their experiences of having been raised in apoor or working-class family/neighborhood and finding, each in their own way, the wherewithal to at least attend a four-year institution and, for most of thecontributors, to graduate with a bachelor's degree and then go on to graduatework. As one might imagine, the struggles, challenges, setbacks, put-downs, confusion and, importantly, triumphs they experience on their journeys inhigher education, not only while earning their degrees but sometimeseven after earning their degrees and working in highereducation as administrators and faculty, are sometimes difficult to grasp andappreciate. That one might not have to scratch very deep beneath the surface ofthese individuals to see the extent to which their poor or working-classbackground still affects and influences their lives in the academy is one ofthe most compelling aspects of the book.
In order to openup the space for the contributors to tell their stories, Ardoin and martinezintroduce the work with a brief primer on social class, social class identity, classism, and the narrative inquiry method used in their work. The authors alsouse the Introduction to tell us their stories of poor andworking-class upbringing and how, after each having earned doctorates and havinglogged years of work experience beyond those doctoral degrees, they now findthemselves "straddling" the class of their upbringing and the newly arrived atmiddle class in which they find themselves living and working. Right from thebeginning, then, the reader is alerted that what follows is going to be adeeply personal accounting and not merely a theoretical exercise.
Straddling Classin the Academy isa highly personal book, and the authors and contributors are to be commendedfor their courage in stepping forward and detailing their accounts, knowingthat they will be read largely by those who work in a world that perhaps alltoo frequently is dismissive of such personal stories. But the classism that isregularly faced by the poor and working-class members of the academy, whetherstudents, administrators, or faculty, is something that for decades, if notlonger, has lingered beneath the surface. Ardoin and martinez do well bybringing these compelling stories to light."
-- "Teachers College Record"
"Straddling Class in the Academy belongs in any collection strong in educatior resources, offering firsthand stories designed to help students and teachers better understand their own diverse classrooms. Models of success are accompanied by narratives from students and administrators that discuss some of the basic challenges of poor and working-class attendees, offering discussions which address racism, class bias, and more in the educational process. No administrator or education holding should be without this candid collection of insights."-- "Midwest Book Review"
"Straddling Class in theAcademy is an important book, filled with honest and powerful narrativesfrom students, staff and faculty. It expands our understanding of poor andworking class backgrounds and informs our next steps in addressing the dynamicsof social class in our college classrooms and workspaces. Read this book anddiscover truths that confirm our own reality about social class on campus, challenge us to think differently, and compel us to take action."
--Paulette M. Dalpes, Vice President of Student Affairs "Community College of Aurora"
"Ardoin and martinez have compiled a vital resource for all in academia. Together with their co-authors, theyprovide invaluable first-hand accounts that help readers take ownership oftheir own class identity while also providing possibility models and pathwaysfor persistence. Perhaps the largest contribution this book makes to highereducation is that it provides narratives and tools to build campuses that serveequitably across class. This book is a must-read for all in highereducation."
--Peter Paquette, Dean of Students "Coastal Carolina University"
"Grasping social class identity--not only what it is, but how it also affects one's life--is essential forhigher education professionals. Ardoin and martinez assembled stories of socialclass identity to illuminate its complexity. This book begins the conversationon pervasive classism within the academy. This needed contribution draws on thepower of stories to highlight how social class permeates higher educationcontexts, professional roles, and lived realities."
--David J. Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Higher Education & Student Affairs "Ohio University"
"Higher education is meant to be the greatequalizer- and yet if we do not courageously speak about social class, and understandthe lived truths of poor and working class students, we continue to underserveand ignore salient and significant dimensions of our students' lives. Ardoinand martinez have given us words, a textbook, life stories, and a theoreticalframe to further deepen our self-work and institutional work in the area ofsocial class. Just thinking about the ripple effect of their book, which hasresulted in institutions and educators doing active reflection, training, andeducation on social class is awe-inspiring. Their book is, and will continue tobe a transformative guide, that compels all of us to ask 'What is your classstory?'"
--Mamta Accapadi, Vice Provost "University Life at University of Pennsylvania"
"In Straddling Class in the Academy, Sonja Ardoin and becky martinezbring 26 individuals together to discuss how social class has impacted theirjourneys through higher education. They do this because "there is criticallearning to be had from those poor or working-class backgrounds, particularly inthe academy, because it is founded on and immersed in elitism" (p. 6). Eachchapter focuses on a particular group of people, starting with currentundergraduate students, moving to faculty and administrators, and ending with individualswho have left higher education. Within each chapter are narratives from three individualson how they experienced class, because "stories can be used as a platform to informhigher education how it maintains social class inequities" (p. 5). Thenarratives are powerful, highlighting how class and continued time within theacademy shape identities. Additionally, each story provides a concrete exampleof how higher education often excludes those from poor and working- classbackgrounds. At the end of each chapter, Ardoin and martinez briefly providetheir analysis of the three narratives and then conclude the book with athematic analysis of all of the narratives.
This book provides nuanced and realistic examples of howsocial class impacts educational journeys. This text would be appropriate for graduatecourses in education."
-- "Journal of College Student Development"
"The takeaways from this book are enriched by theintentionality of the editors as they strived to be inclusive among the pages.Class works in tandem with other socially constructed identities to create awhole sense of self, and the diversity of race, gender, and family dynamicsamong others was apparent throughout the text.
Although Ardoin and martinez intentionally highlightthe diversity among contributors' identities and lived experiences, they also work toilluminate 'shared social classexperiences' between all of thecontributors. These shared experiences form the 'key learnings' that the editors briefly described and include thingslike stereotype threat, imposter syndrome, code-switching, and making systemic change, amongothers.
As you read the 26 stories in this volume you canfeel the passion, and sometimes pain, of how class-based experiences haveimpacted the lives of so many. It is apparent that Ardoin and martinez caredeeply about improving the conversations that are (or are not) happening about classin higher education. As the first book of its kind, there is no doubt that itwill make a positive impact across campuses.
This book would be a meaningful addition to theeducation and professional development of student affairs students and currentpractitioners. The contributors' storiesand editors'analyticalcontributions provide an important introduction to the social class conversation."
-- "Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice"
