“Always in My Face”: An Exploration of Social Class Consciousness, Salience, and Values

Abstract

This qualitative study explores social class consciousness, salience, and values of White, low-income, first-generation college students. Overall, participants minimized the salience of social class as an aspect of their identity with many of them expressing that they did not want their social class to define them. Although participants largely did not feel as if social class was an important aspect of their identity, it became clear through their stories that this aspect of their identity influenced how they viewed themselves, the world around them, and their higher SES peers in college. Implications for higher education research and practice are discussed.