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College Aspirations and Access in Working-Class Rural Communities: The Mixed Signals, Challenges, and New Language First-Generation Students Encounter

Ardoin / / December 2017


Sonja's Book

Ardoin's text explores how a working class, rural environment influences students’ opportunities to pursue higher education and engage in the college choice process. Based on accounts from rural high school students and counselors, this book examines perceptions of higher education and what challenges arise for both rural students and counselors. The book addresses how college knowledge and university jargon illustrate the gap between rural cultural capital and higher education cultural capital. Insights about approaches to reduce barriers created by college knowledge and jargon are shared and strategies for offering students pathways to learn academic language and navigate higher education are presented for both secondary and higher education institutions.

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