Jensen Lecture Series presents: Natasha Quadlin, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UCLA, “Social Class, Debt, Gender and the Purpose of College: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment.”

Research has demonstrated a strong link between student characteristics (e.g., gender, social class) and fields of study at the undergraduate level. This research shows that students are often constrained in choosing fields of study, such that they are encouraged to choose fields that are “practical” (in the case of social class) or “feminine” (in the case of gender). But to what extent is stratification in fields of study undergirded by widespread cultural beliefs about what students should study? In this paper, we use data from a large, nationally representative survey experiment (N ~ 5,000) that captures Americans’ beliefs about what students with different backgrounds should study in college. Findings reveal key social cleavages in how Americans think about college on account of students’ gender, social class, and college funding, including disparate beliefs about what higher education is for and should be.