Exploring the intersections of social class, identity, and self-regulation during the transition from high school to college

An intersection is a place where two or more points meet. Within the intersection, a new space is created. The new space shapes how the world is experienced, interpreted, and understood. The purpose of this research was to explore the intersections of social class, identity, and self-regulation during the transition from high school to college. The study highlighted how seven lower middle or working class first-year college students made meaning of their experiences during this transition. For the participants in this research, the new space created within the intersection of social class, identity, and self-regulation was framed by a sense of determination. This sense of determination may be what set these students apart from their peers who share similar social class backgrounds. While their determination may have helped them work towards their goals, this sense of determination may also be part of a hegemonic discourse that predominates what defines middle class status.;Educational researchers have demonstrated that social class influences academic achievement, including graduation and drop-out rates (Hochschild, 2003). Students who come from middle class backgrounds perform better in school and are more likely to attend and graduate from college. Poor students lack academic and career role models and often times need to work long hours or accumulate life-long debt to afford college (Aries & Seider, 2005, Holstrom et al, 2002). Educational psychologists have consider social class as a variable in their research, but not as a defining contextual factor that shapes identity or development of other skills such as self-regulation. This research responded to the challenge that educational psychologists need to consider the implications of economic context and stratification in their research (Murdock, 2000).;Qualitative methods were used to understand how participants made meaning of social class, identity and self-regulation during the transition from high school to college. The participants were all recipients of the Land Grant Opportunity Scholarship. To qualify for the scholarship, the participants needed to demonstrate financial need and academic success. Students were interviewed four times during their first year of college. Collecting data during the transition provided a window into how students made meaning of social class, identity, and self-regulation during this time away from parents and life-long friends.;Interview data were analyzed using open and axial coding techniques. Analysis yielded several themes including determination as an umbrella theme that framed how the participants understood both themselves and others. All of the participants believed that determination would allow anyone to change his or her social class status. This in turn influenced their sense of identity.;Determination fueled the participants' volition to be who they wanted to be and rise above economic circumstances. Lastly, determination shaped the participants' self-regulation in terms of the goals that they articulated and their self-efficacy toward achieving those goals. While determination may prove useful to these students and their goals, I also recognize that the participants' belief in determination may also be a result of a larger hegemonic discourse that surfaces from a middle class work ethos.;Findings from this research have implications for how high schools and colleges can work with students who come from lower middle, working class and working poor backgrounds. Above all, the experiences and words from participants re-taught me to treat each and every student not as a number or statistic, but rather as an individual who has the capacity to be determined, self-regulated, and has the ability to work toward his or her dreams.