Social Class Fragility and College Students’ Career Decision-Making at a Private University

Abstract

The present study examined the role of social class in the career decision-making of undergraduate students attending a private university. Grounded theory was used to describe the process of social class and undergraduates’ career interests and plans. Interviews with undergraduate students (N = 21) resulted in four categories and 13 axial codes. The grounded theory emerging from the data was labeled, social class fragility. Social class fragility captured the career goals and behaviors associated with participants’ striving for an acceptable career choice, based upon their social class contexts. The contextual factors described by participants included relational influences, social class consciousness, and vocational privilege. Results are discussed in terms of career interventions with college students attending universities that encapsulate upper middle-class norms.