Poverty and Higher Education
Session Title
Education and the College Experience
Faculty Mentor
Ginger Williams, Ph.D.
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Interdisciplinary Studies
Abstract
Poverty is a problem that has found its way into every area of the globe. Many different aspects of life are affected by poverty. From health and homelessness to mortality rates, poverty cuts deep into society but most importantly, poverty affects education. For my research, my focus is to examine the effect of poverty on students obtaining higher education. Throughout the nation and the world over, poverty has found itself rooted within society and many aspects of everyday life. Poverty fosters unique problems for students that teachers are not able to solve through instruction within the classroom setting. There is this idea of a meritocracy where your merit and achievements will catapult you into a better socioeconomic status and situation, but this is not the case for all students and their families. Moreover, students who are the next generation of the world are affected by poverty in so many different ways and this will only continue if change does not happen soon. Poverty is a unique obstacle that hinders students from learning efficiently in elementary, middle, and high school, making it difficult for students to apply for and attend college. The proposed research question for this research paper is how does poverty affect students in higher education? To further examine this topic, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to tackle this question. The reason for this is that this problem is too big to be approached by just one single discipline. Throughout this research paper, the disciplines used include the fields of education, higher education, and sociology. The thesis for this paper is poverty negatively affects pre- and post-secondary education for students and often hinders them from obtaining a college degree.
Course Assignment
IDVS 490 – Williams
Previously Presented/Performed?
Winthrop University Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors, Rock Hill, SC, April 2023.
Type of Presentation
Oral presentation
Start Date
15-4-2023 12:00 PM
Poverty and Higher Education
Poverty is a problem that has found its way into every area of the globe. Many different aspects of life are affected by poverty. From health and homelessness to mortality rates, poverty cuts deep into society but most importantly, poverty affects education. For my research, my focus is to examine the effect of poverty on students obtaining higher education. Throughout the nation and the world over, poverty has found itself rooted within society and many aspects of everyday life. Poverty fosters unique problems for students that teachers are not able to solve through instruction within the classroom setting. There is this idea of a meritocracy where your merit and achievements will catapult you into a better socioeconomic status and situation, but this is not the case for all students and their families. Moreover, students who are the next generation of the world are affected by poverty in so many different ways and this will only continue if change does not happen soon. Poverty is a unique obstacle that hinders students from learning efficiently in elementary, middle, and high school, making it difficult for students to apply for and attend college. The proposed research question for this research paper is how does poverty affect students in higher education? To further examine this topic, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to tackle this question. The reason for this is that this problem is too big to be approached by just one single discipline. Throughout this research paper, the disciplines used include the fields of education, higher education, and sociology. The thesis for this paper is poverty negatively affects pre- and post-secondary education for students and often hinders them from obtaining a college degree.
