Moving Up without Losing Your Way: The Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility

by Jennifer M. Morton

Overview

The dilemmas faced by disadvantaged college students seeking upward mobility and what educators can do to help these students flourish

Upward mobility through higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While this path usually entails financial sacrifices and hard work, little attention has been paid to the personal compromises such students make as they enter worlds vastly different from their own. Measuring the true cost of higher education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, Moving Up without Losing Your Way looks at the ethical dilemmas of upward mobility—the broken ties with family and friends, and the loss of community and identity—faced by students as they strive to earn a successful place in society. Drawing upon philosophy, social science, personal stories, and interviews, Jennifer Morton reframes the college experience, factoring in not just educational and career opportunities but also essential relationships. She urges educators to empower students with a new narrative, one that might allow them to achieve social mobility while retaining their best selves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691216935
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	609,830
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jennifer M. Morton is associate professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and senior fellow at the Center for Ethics and Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Strivers 1

1 Recognizing the Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility 17

2 Situating Ethical Costs in Context 43

3 Navigating an Evolving Identity 72

4 Resisting Complicity 98

5 Constructing an Ethical Narrative 120

Conclusion: Minimizing and Mitigating Ethical Costs 150

Bibliography 163

Index 171

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"What are the ethical costs borne by first-generation students and their families and communities? Moving Up without Losing Your Way investigates the burden that first-generation, low-income, and immigrant students carry when they strive to achieve upward mobility through attending college. This book reshapes the conversation about upward mobility, shifting our focus from the opportunities embedded in the current social structure to the price paid by those aiming to climb it."—Sigal Ben-Porath, University of Pennsylvania

"Moving Up without Losing Your Way compellingly contends that conventional discourse about the socioeconomic mobility of college students from working-class, low-income, and first-generation backgrounds is fundamentally flawed. Showing how the process of mobility can be detrimental to students, this immensely readable book makes important arguments about the nature of power and structure in American society."—Elizabeth M. Lee, author of Class and Campus Life

"Moving Up without Losing Your Way is a subtle philosophical exploration of the underappreciated costs involved in social mobility. This book is simultaneously a major contribution to the philosophical literature about higher education and essential reading for all college leaders, administrators, and teachers."—Harry Brighouse, coauthor of Educational Goods

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the Frederic W. Ness Book Award, Association of American Colleges and Universities

"Winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Education"

From the Publisher

"This important and accessible study demonstrates the value of ethical analyses to understand these issues, aimed at strivers, their families, their communities, and the entire higher education community."

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