Class Counts: Exploring Differences in Academic and Social Integration between Working-Class and Middle/Upper-Class Students at Large, Public Research Universities

This multi-institutional study examines differences between working-class and middle/upper-class students at large, public research universities. Significant differences in factors related to working-class students' social integration (including satisfaction, campus climate, and sense of belonging) and academic integration (including collaborative work with peers, academic involvement and initiative, and time spent employed or in academic activities), in addition to students' perceived obstacles to academic success, were found through non-parametric bootstrapping. Using Tinto's (1993) theory of student departure as a framework, it is hypothesized that these differences may negatively impact working-class students' persistence and retention.