Review by Booklist Review
In typical frat parties, Armstrong and Hamilton see much that is wrong with college education today. Such parties allow daughters of the affluent to flaunt their social advantages while exposing the vulnerabilities of female students from less-privileged backgrounds. Unfortunately, the authors find such parties well established in the party pathway through the university. Focusing on female students, the authors find from campus observations and interviews ample evidence that four years on the party pathway will open doors of power for the elite while stranding the wannabes with mountains of student-loan debt and few employment options for paying off that debt. The authors suggest a number of reforms including the abolition of Greek fraternities, the termination of legacy admissions for the offspring of rich alumni, and the replacement of the college party pathway with a mobility pathway giving struggling students generous financial aid, supportive remedial courses, and a direct path to good careers. A provocative expose of socially polarizing trends in higher education certain to spark debate.--Christensen, Bryce Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Though this book's data came from a study of women and sexuality at college, what emerged was a study of social and academic infrastructure at an unidentified Midwestern university. University of Michigan sociologist Armstrong and University of California-Merced sociologist Hamilton spent over five years tracking the lives of female students from one floor of a university dorm. The preface describes the authors' experiences of "studying up"-learning about a more elite population-which compelled Armstrong to purchase new clothes on her way to interviews and Hamilton to grow out her hair. Their study reveals the effects of differing parental, social, and financial standing among students. A particular focus of sample group is the "party pathway," with an entire chapter is dedicated to the hierarchy associated with wealth and social interactions as seen through this activity. Armstrong and Hamilton pepper the book with student interviews, and ultimately suggest substantial changes to university structure for creating an egalitarian, merit-based environment. The extensive research and approachable writing style make this book useful to any audience interested in learning more about social differences within the education system. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Researchers Armstrong (sociology, Univ. of Michigan) and Hamilton (sociology, Univ. of Calif., Merced) offer data and commentary on their five-year comprehensive ethnographic study on how the structures of higher education encourage social inequality, especially among women. Focusing on the pathways leading to the college experience, the authors reveal an honest, if at times unflattering, look at the reality of the academic experience for women of both high and low socioeconomic status. Packed in with the data derived from the authors' interviews is an intimate portrait of the study's participants combined with researcher commentary that clarifies what the data represent: an unsettling picture of universities failing to lessen the disadvantages facing many of their students. VERDICT For the advanced researcher or graduate student who is willing to trample through dense text this work will provide spectacular insights into gender and schooling and serve as a useful example of how to report ethnographic research.-Rachel Wadham, Brigham Young Univ. Libs., Provo, UT (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
How a large Midwestern state university (unnamed in this longitudinal study) does little to help young women move upward or outward from their working- and middle-class backgrounds. Armstrong (Sociology and Organizational Studies/Univ. of Michigan) and Hamilton (Univ. of California, Merced) report the results of their five-year study of a group of young women who began in the same freshman dorm but ended up in very different situations. The constraints of social and economic class remained formidable, and moving into the professional class seemed virtually impossible, especially for those women who followed what the authors call "the party pathway." Women from more privileged backgrounds survived their partying through school due to their more substantial support systems at home. We also see how difficult the college adjustment was for less talented students and for women from modest backgrounds and small towns. The authors conducted five annual interviews with their cohort of about 50 students (not all sat for all five interviews). The text looks and reads like the academic study that it is (many charts, some jargon, a conventional organization), but the conclusions are sobering, if not depressing. Armstrong and Hamilton assail the university itself for a number of failures, including an ineffectual system of student advising; a plethora of meaningless majors and courses designed to attract full-paying students, many of whom have no intention of actually pursuing such a career; and its continuing support for the fraternity/sorority system, which the authors contend undermines the very academic mission of the university. Athletics take some major blame, as well. The authors also discovered that some of the women who transferred to regional campuses performed better and were happier. The prose is sometimes sluggish and the recommendations perhaps quixotic, but the portrait of the university features stark lines and alarming colors.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
