MP3 Audio Sample
Short Synopsis
The ethical and emotional tolls paid by disadvantaged college students seeking upward mobility and what educators can do to help these students flourish.
Full Synopsis
Upward mobility through the path of higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While we know this path usually entails financial sacrifices and hard work, very little attention has been paid to the deep personal compromises such students have to make as they enter worlds vastly different from their own. Measuring the true cost of higher education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, Moving Up without Losing Your Way looks at the ethical dilemmas of upward mobility faced by students as they strive to earn a successful place in society.
Drawing upon philosophy, social science, personal stories, and interviews, Jennifer Morton reframes the college experience, factoring in not just educational and career opportunities but also essential relationships with family, friends, and community. Finding that student strivers tend to give up the latter for the former, negating their sense of self, Morton seeks to reverse this course. She urges educators to empower students with a new narrative of upward mobility—one that honestly situates ethical costs in historical, social, and economic contexts and that allows students to make informed decisions for themselves.
Author Jennifer Morton
Narrated by Chloe Cannon
Publication date Sep 17, 2019
Running time 5 hrs 17 min
Available Formats
audio download