Freshman Socialization: The Influence of Social Class Backgrounds on the Adaptation of Students

Abstract

A questionnaire based study of the entering students at a major American university examines their social-class backgrounds and the effects of these backgrounds on the students' adaptation to the university. It is shown that less than 20 per cent of the students came from genuinely working-class or blue-collar backgrounds. This is followed by analysis of adaptation differences between higher and lower background groups. Some indications of poorer adaptation among the lower background group are found in terms of anomie, academic performance and advisors' ratings. However, no significant differences are found in terms of personal control, political alienation or satisfaction. It is concluded that both prior socialization and socialization at the university contribute to the fact that the social-class origins of this university's students do not differentiate their subsequent occupational achievement. However, it is shown that the similar levels of satisfaction shown by the two groups do have different sources. A more instrumental orientation among the lower background group is argued to exist because satisfaction is directly related to academic performance for this group, which is not the case for the higher background group.