The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students

It can be overwhelming to talk to famous professors like those at Renowned, but some upper-income students are quite comfortable doing so. Antoinette, a Black student whose parents attended Renowned and who even introduced her to some of their professors, was at ease attending office hours and requesting one-on-one meetings with professors, even as a freshman. Such familiarity allowed her to become a key member of the Equality Center at Renowned. Another Black student, Joe, was so comfortable with his professors that he even felt entitled to ask his TA for a regrading of one of his exams. Misha, a Black aspiring spoken-word artist, lobbied administrators for gender-neutral bathrooms and housing for transgender students on campus. These students wasted no opportunity.

The Doubly Disadvantaged, though, assume that succeeding in college is all about doing the work, not talking to professors or making connections with staff. Only a third of Jack’s Doubly Disadvantaged students reported having positive relationships with professors, and even those relationships were often strained. Shaniqua, a Black student who had experienced homelessness, found it hard to advocate for herself on campus: She felt she had been given enough by the university and could not imagine asking anyone for more. This led her to almost not graduate because she didn’t update her advisor about her struggles with writing her senior paper. Like her, Robbie, a Doubly Disadvantaged white student, felt emotionally drained talking to professors, feeling guilty for needing any help. A Latina student, Melanie, grew anxious about her adviser reaching out to her after she failed an exam. At her high school, if an adult had wanted to talk to her, it meant she was in trouble. The intervention from her adviser backfired, as Melanie was more stressed about needing help than she was about the class in which she struggled. Most Doubly Disadvantaged students had never been taught what is expected of them when it comes to interacting with adults.

The Privileged Poor, however, do not have the same experience. Because of the skills they develop in high school, the Privileged Poor enter Renowned comfortable seeking out academic and social support from adults. They feel as entitled to their professors’ time and attention as their wealthy classmates. Ogun, for instance, built on the skills she learned in high school to develop a “go out and get yours” attitude (100). She was even comfortable talking on the phone with her TA. Similarly, Sara, a Latina from El Paso, noted that her high school had built time into the school day for students to talk to their teachers one-on-one. This made her so comfortable asking for help from professors at Renowned, that interactions with an adult could have a calming effect on her. Some Privileged Poor students only went to professors’ office hours during exam or paper-writing time, but they still felt comfortable doing so. 

The upper-income students Jacks spoke to were strategic about developing support networks and unapologetic about asking for favors. Kramer, a Black student from a private school where he got along so well with his teachers that he would meet them for coffee during the summer, reached out to TAs just to talk early in his freshman year. Similarly, another Black student, John, excitedly described his close relationship with the freshman dean. He took advantage of an open house reception available to all freshmen and used it to cultivate a strong bond. Rose, a Black student from New Hampshire, immersed herself in life at Renowned by seeking out open houses, guest lectures, and other events. She was equally comfortable going to support groups for queer students and connecting with older students too. All of these students from well-to-do families made it a point to reach out to adults and get to know them. They described the interactions positively and saw the adults at Renowned as partners in their academic, professional, and life journeys.

The Doubly Disadvantaged students, however, expressed discomfort at talking to adults, often feeling as though networking was somehow suspect. Instead, their strategy was to bury themselves in work. Valeria, a Latina junior and good anthropology student, had difficulties building relationships with professors because of her father’s essential life lesson: it’s better to succeed by doing quality work than by “kissing ass” (108). Daniel, a Latino engineering student, thought he could find success at Renowned the same way he did in high school: working hard. He too thought of students talking to professors as sucking up, unable to even imagine what students could talk about with adults. Daniel even did not want to use a personal connection (his roommate’s uncle) to get an internship he wanted. But his strategy of doing the work and not networking was not effective. Instead, he gave up his dream of becoming a doctor. Isabel, a Latina junior from a Midwest high school so lacking in funds that lights in the hallways were turned off to save energy costs, grew up with adults placing low expectations on her. She could not figure out how to feel comfortable talking to adults, or asking for letters of recommendation or other favors. Instead, she followed the example of her father: If she didn’t understand material in a book, she would just keep trying to make sense of it on her own. Only a few Doubly Disadvantaged students Jack spoke felt comfortable asking for help, but even they first wasted a year or more before accessing institutional resources.

In contrast, none of the Privileged Poor students Jack spoke to reported feeling any guilt at reaching out to adults on campus. The only difference between them and their upper-income peers is that they saw their ease in talking to adults as an acquired, not innate, skill. Damion, a Black student, used to skip classes with abandon until he entered a rigorous Catholic high school. There, his mentors empowered him to speak up, and he became comfortable advocating for more diversity. While initially anxious at Renowned, Damion became comfortable after seeking help from his advisers. Nicole, another Black student, had no qualms asking professors to get coffee with her, because she was familiar with office hours and mentorship from high school. Another Black student, a senior named Stephanie, felt comfortable not seeking a tutor for help and going straight to her professors with requests to meet at times that fit her schedule. This was second nature to her because of her experience in high school. Another scholarship student, a Black student named Clarissa, made a personal connection with her academic adviser, who told her about discretionary funds advisers had to help students like her in emergencies. All of these students had been shocked by what adults expected of them in their elite high schools, but were comfortable with approaching adults by the time they entered Renowned.

Other researchers have found that students are less willing to talk about mental health problems than they are about other parts of the college experience. Jack, however, was able to gain insight from three students: Carol, an upper-income Black student; Elise, a Doubly Disadvantaged white student; and Patrice, a Privileged Poor Latina student. When the stress of her parents’ divorce hurt Carol’s mental well-being, causing her to lose sleep, she reached out to her resident adviser and sought out the counseling center too. In contrast, when Elise dealt with family stress like her family disowning her for going to college, she resisted getting help. Though she developed insomnia and an eating disorder, she assumed seeking help was demonstrate weakness. Even though mental health services were covered by her student health plan, she only started seeing a psychiatrist and a psychologist following an intervention from one of her professors. Patrice faced similar problems to those of Elise, finding out that her siblings had been removed from her home by child protective services. She too developed an eating disorder, but she trusted adults and sought help right away. She came out of the experience loving Renowned even more, because she felt people there really cared about her. These young women’s experiences make sense. Those who were comfortable with adults sought help, but those who were unwilling to even ask advice on a term paper couldn’t bring themselves to find help for a mental health issue.

In a 2015 commencement address at a preparatory school in Chicago, then-First Lady Michelle Obama told a story about how she learned at Princeton the hidden, unstated rules places like Renowned assume students know: the need to visit professors and ask questions because those conversations are how one achieves success. Once she did this, her emotional well-being and academics improved. While other students come to Renowned knowing this innately or because of their high school experiences, the Doubly Disadvantaged learn it at college. They experience anxiety at the need to have close contact with staff; they are confused when their worldview that hard work alone is enough is not how Renowned works.

Jack intentionally does not focus on the race of the about administrators or faculty, nor did his student subjects bring it up. He hopes that other researchers will pick up this angle, especially given that three fourths of the faculty at Renowned is white.

In summary, colleges need to know that not every student comes to college with the same understanding of the resources available. Some schools, such as Williams and Bates Colleges, have summer orientation programs that introduce students to campus life before school. Jack suggests having professors and faculty present for these orientations so that students can meet them in a more low-stakes setting than the classroom. Additionally, colleges could mail students’ families explanations of college life, including for international students the rites and customs of America and their particular campus. Jack has already encouraged administrators at various schools to make sure professors explain not just when office hours are but what they are for. Some professors write in the syllabus what they can talk about at office hours. Professors who have office hours at coffee shops should clarify that they will pay for any coffee a student orders so as not to cause anxiety for lower-income students. Being explicit about the expected relationships between students and faculty and explaining what resources are available for students can help disadvantaged students adjust to and feel welcomed at elite educational institutions.