Journal article
Measuring and Explaining a College Dignity Divide in America
Socius : sociological research for a dynamic world, Vol.9
06/26/2023
DOI: 10.1177/23780231231180381
Abstract
Prominent, multidisciplinary perspectives on inequality in America contend that receiving a four-year college degree matters not just for life chances but also for achieving a sense of dignity or respect from others. In this study, the authors assess subjective dignity, or dignity as perceived in one’s own life, according to four-year college degree status and how it overlaps with different economic and psychosocial college-linked resources. Drawing on multiple years of national Gallup survey data (2017 and 2021), the authors find a college gap in subjective dignity as large as the difference linked to full-time work itself. Consistent with Lamont’s perspective on America’s dignity crisis, a lack of perceived socioeconomic standing in society most strongly coincides with why those without a college degree also perceive a lack of dignity within their lives, although finances, work, perceived control, and mattering to others all significantly coincide with the college dignity gap as well.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Measuring and Explaining a College Dignity Divide in America
- Creators
- Matthew A. Andersson - Baylor UniversitySteven Hitlin - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Socius : sociological research for a dynamic world, Vol.9
- DOI
- 10.1177/23780231231180381
- ISSN
- 2378-0231
- eISSN
- 2378-0231
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/26/2023
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology
- Record Identifier
- 9984438960302771
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