Elite private institutions, renowned for their exceptional academic offerings and rigorous selection processes, attract top-tier students and faculty; however exclusive private schooling has perpetuated social and economic disparities by granting unequal advantages to select groups, deepening educational gaps in society. This dissertation…

In this dissertation, I examined the experiences of QuestBridge Scholars attending three different elite universities that enroll more students from the top income quintile than from the lowest three income quintiles combined. The universities attended by participants in this study are among the few that are both need-blind and that fully meet…

As future holders of power, nurturing a critical consciousness among economically privileged populations is urgently needed as it could encourage them to actively challenge class oppression around them. Egyptian international school students typically belong to this population as they serve as vehicles that push for the interests of global capital…

Despite pledges to increase student body diversity, low-income students and Black, Latinx, and Native American students remain grossly underrepresented at elite colleges. To date, most studies exploring stratification in college enrollment patterns have looked at this phenomenon from the student or organizational perspective--examining either…

In this dissertation, I examine the role elite high schools play in the perpetuation of privilege in America and how, if at all, that role has changed over time. I explore the characteristics of students who attend elite high schools and the relationships between attending those schools and entering elite colleges, earning a top 10% income,…

This project examines, how, through educational mobility, the economic, educational, and housing transformations of one city in China influence the class and racial relations of another in the United States (US). Drawing on theories from education, urban geography, migration studies, and transnational racial theories, this research connects…

Research has given us the understanding of the demographic disparity between white, largely middle class teachers and diverse lower socioeconomic school children (Grious & Silva, 2010), as teachers from the middle class society wrestle with meeting the needs of their culturally diverse students. In efforts to bridge the social and academic…

Collegiate secret societies, as distinguished from Greek-letter fraternal organizations, enjoyed prominence within many American campus communities from the early nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century (Baird, 1879; Hitchcock, 1863; Slosson, 1910; Veysey, 1965). The establishment of these elite groups preceded the maturation of…