A Discussion on Myths and Realities Associated with Student Retention - Essay Example

Sociology Mid-term Essay By Mid-Term Test A Discussion on Myths and Realities associated with Retention The following are the myths and the realities on why many young people who enrol for college and University studies in the US do not complete their studies. The first Myth is the view that most college-student go to college full-time, and that if they leave, it is because they are bored with class and that they don’t want to work hard (Johson, Ott &DuPont, 2010). However, according to a research by Johnson, Ott, and DuPont in 2010, it is not true that most college students go to school full-time. In the research, Johnson, Ott, and DuPont found out that the reality of the matter is that most students leave colleges because they are working to support themselves and going to school at the same time. At some point, the stress of work and study become overwhelming, resulting in dropping out of school. The second myth of why many college students drop out of school before graduation is that many students are supported by their parents, and that they take advantage of many loans, scholarships, and saving plans. In their research, Johnson, Ott, and DuPont found that this perception of college life is erroneous and misleading. Johnson, Ott and DuPont found out that the reality of the matter is that many students who fail to complete college studies often go it alone financially, without the support of their parents. The financial strain therefore makes many students from low-income families to drop out of colleges before graduation. The third myth about why a high percentage of college students do not complete their college studies is that most college students go through a meticulous process in choosing their colleges, and that the students chooses colleges from an array of alternatives. In their research, Johnson, Ott and DuPont found that this view is incorrect. The three researchers found that the reality of the matter is that in college selection, the process is limited and the students often are not informed. This therefore makes some students to end up in colleges that they do not like. This makes some students to find college life boring, ultimately leading to dropping out of the college. The fourth major myth on student retention is that, the students who leave the college before completion fully know the value of a college degree and the consequences of not completing college education. However, in their research, Johnson, Ott and DuPont found that a good number of those who leave college life are ignorant of the value of a college degree and the consequences of not completing college studies. The reality of the matter is that most students who leave college know that a college degree is an asset, but they do not realize the negative consequences of dropping out of college before graduation. For this reason, many college students leave school before graduation out of ingnorance. To resolve the challenges of many students leaving colleges before graduation, the following strategies should be adopted. First, the government should provide the low-come students with enough financial support that will enable them to attend classes full-time (Tinto, 2004). With enough financial support from the government, many students in college will concentrate in their studies and work for lesser hours. This strategy will help in retaining many students in colleges. The second strategy that can help to retain students in colleges is that the educational institutions should provide guidelines on what they should do so as to be successful in their studies (Tinto, 2004). For instance, the colleges should provide guidelines to students who are juggling work and study to know how they can manage their time well and be successful in their studies. The third major strategy to overcome the high rate of college dropout is to provide avenues where the young people would be informed well on the colleges and the carriers that they want to choose. This will enable the students to choose the careers and the colleges that they like, thus reducing college dropouts as the result of lack of interest in career and colleges. The fourth strategy to enhance college retention is to educate the college students on the negative consequences of dropping out of school. This will make the ignorant college students to make decisions on, whether or not to complete their studies, from an enlightened point of view. These four strategies can help a great deal in retaining student in colleges till they graduate. A Discussion of Shadow Education- Including differences in class, race, and gender groups in usage Shadow education is a predominant education style in America. Shadow education refers to the private supplementary tutoring that is done mainly in the evenings or on weekends. The main aim of shadow education in America is to prepare the students for examination (Buchman, 2010). However, although the American society has accepted shadow education as an ideal form of education, there are differences in class, race, and gender in the shadow education. The following are the main differences. In terms of class, the difference is that majority of those who undertake shadow educations are the children from the rich people. This is because the poor people in the American society are not able to afford to pay for their children to undertake private classes (Buchman, 2010). Shadow education in America therefore is dominated by the rich and the upper middle classes. There are also differences in race among those who take shadow education in America. Manly, it is the children of the white parents who undertake private tutoring. Many African Children do not undertake private tutoring in America. This therefore shows that shadow education in America is dominated by the white people. Gender difference in shadow education in America is quite minimal. Slightly higher number of men or male children in America undertakes shadow education than the female members of the society. Explanation of the Differences in the Shadow education in America, in light of the Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction theory Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory states that quest for distinction underlies all human interactions. Bourdieu argues that in quest for distinction, the lower class members of the society legitimate dormant group’s behaviours unknowingly . By misunderstanding the dominant elite’s oppressive behavior as legitimate benefits, the dominated group of the society actually contribute to their own domination by embracing such oppressive behaviour of the rich people as natural and normal. Bourdieu therefore sees the elite of our societies as using the lower members of the society to legitimize their oppressive behaviour. In light of this theory, shadow education is actually a system of education used by the rich people in America to maintain the status quo. This is because it is the rich people who are able to pay for the shadow education. This practice by the rich people has been misunderstood and has been unknowingly embraced by the people of the lower class in America as a legitimate form of education. This in turn has led to the status quo, since the rich people has used the oppressive system of shadow education to prepare their children more for exams, thus beating the children of the poor people in exams. This therefore is the explanation of the differences in shadow education in America, in light of the Bourdieu theory of Social reproduction. A Comparison of Functionalism and Conflict Perspectives on Higher Education Functionalist theory of education is the theory that focuses on how the higher education serves the needs of the society. The sociologist Durkheim saw the founder of the functionalist theory of education saw the main aim of education being socializing the members of the society into the mainstream of the society (Knotnerus, 1987). Durkheim therefore saw the main aim of education in the modern society as social solidarity-holding the members of the society together. Durkheim argued that education helps to create a cohesive social structure by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds. The proponents of the functionalist theory of education therefore see the society as a system of many parts that work together to generate stability. Education helps to bring about this social stability. On the other hand, the conflict theory of education states that the main aim of education is to maintain social inequality, and to preserve power in the hands of the elite who dominate the society. In other words, the proponents of the conflict theory of education see education as maintaining social inequality through maintaining the status quo (Knottnerus, 1987). Unlike the functionalist theory of education that view education as benefiting the society through ordering and stabilizing the society, the conflict theory of education view education as perpetuating the status quo by opening more opportunities for the well-off and the elite, who are able to access the best education, and denying the opportunities to the poor people who are unable to access good education. This marks one of the main differences between the Functionalist and the Conflict theories of education. According to the Functionalist theory of education, one of the ways in which education socializes the members of the society is through transmission of the core values of the society into the next generation. Through education, the young members of the society are introduced into the values of the society and they are made to embrace the values of the society. This in turn ensures that there is order in the society because all the members of the society have the same values and worldview. The second way in which the education works and helps to maintain social order and stability is through sorting. Sorting refers to the separation of students on the basis of merits and talents. According to the functionalist theory of education, education helps the society to award jobs and other responsibilities on the basis of merits and one’s talents. This in turn ensures that there is healthy competition in the society; this in turn leads to social order and stability. The Functionalist theory of education therefore views education as being quite beneficial to the whole society. On the other hand, the Conflict theory of education holds that education works through giving the powerful and the elite more opportunities and denying the poor the opportunities, thus maintaining the status quo and perpetuating the social inequality. The conflict theory of education also holds that education works through sorting, but sorting, unlike in the functionalist theory of education, is based on classes and ethnicity. This again shows another important difference between the functionalist theory of education and the conflict theory of education. The conflict theory of education, therefore, sees education as being particularly important for the interest of the rich and the powerful members of the society. Trends in Educational Attainment Allocation theory of education states that education is a system of allocation, conferring success on some members of the society and failure on others (Meyer, 1997). What this means in essence is that the main aim of education is to determine the positions, and the roles that the members of the society will play in the development of the society. Education system confers success to those who perform well in school, and it confers failure to those who fail in school. For this reason, education therefore is a system of allocation, determining the positions that the members of the society will hold in the society. Meyer in his legitimization theory sees the role of education as being more than merely allocating success and failure on the members of the society. According to Meyer, besides allocating success and failure, education also constructs and alters roles in society and authoritatively allocates personnels to these positions. In this sense, therefore, Meyer sees education as legitimizing elite definition and certification. What this means is that education creates the elite roles in the society and allocates personels in those elite roles, whom it regards as elites. In this sense, education legitimizes elite definition and certification. Karen’s maximally maintained Inequality and Counter Mobilization as they relate to access to education 1990-1992 Karen is of the view that in the years 1990-1992, inequality was maximally maintained. In other words Karen means that, during this period of time, the rich and the elite of America had made it quite it quite difficult to for the people of the lower class to move the social ladder. During this period of time, it was only the children of the rich people who were able to access good education and good jobs (Karen, 2002). This therefore denied children from the poor families the opportunities to move from the lower class of their parents to the upper class. The elite of the American society during this period of time had put in place measures to counter the mobilizations of their people in their efforts to be given opportunities to move up the social ladder. This situation therefore had created a situation of maximally maintained inequality and counter mobilization. This situation changed later, with the human rights organizations fighting for the rights of the poor and the marginalized. Torche’s Overall Pattern of Intergenerational Occupational Association (Parent-Child match in terms of class/ education/occupation) According to Torche, the following are the patterns of intergenerational occupational association. First, parent’s class or occupational level strongly impacts children’s occupation or class level among those who do not complete college degree (Torche, 2011). Torche saw a close correlation between parent’s social class and occupation, with the class and occupation of their children who have not attained a college degree. Secondly, one earns a college degree, their social status and occupation is not affected by their parent’s occupation or social class. For Torche therefore, there is virtually no correlation between the social status and occupation of a person who has earned a college degree, with the social status and the occupation of their parents. Once one acquires a college degree, the degree gives opens an array of possibilities for him/her, thus enabling the person to easily move up the social ladder. Thirdly, parent’s occupational or class level is strongly correlated with the type of the college degree students obtain. What this means in essence is that most children choose careers related to or the same with the careers of their children. It is only relatively few children who choose careers and occupation completely different from those of their parents. This because in many instances the parents choose careers for their children and deny them the freedom to freely choose their preferred careers. References Buchman, C. (2010). “Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrolment”. USA: Chicago University Press. Johnson, R., Ott, N., and Dupont, S. (2010). “With their Whole lives Ahead of them”. USA: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Karen. ( 2002).” Changes in Access to Higher Education in the United States:1980-1992”. USA: Oxford Publishing Press. Knottnerus, D. (1987). “Status Attainment an Image of Society”. USA: American Sociological Association. Meyer, J.W. (1977). The Effects of Education as an institution. USA: The University of Chicago Press. . Tinto, V. (2004). “Promoting Retention: Facing the Truth and Living with the Consequences”. USA: The Pell Institute Press. Torche. (2011). “Is College Degree still the great Equalizer? Intergenerational mobility across levels of Schooling in the United States”. USA: Oxford Publishing Press. Read More