ABSTRACT
Working-class studies scholars often complain when researchers use a single aspect of people’s lives—most often education—to determine their social class. Class involves economic and social structures, cultural practices and attitudes, how people understand their place in the world, and how they interact with each other. First-gen may also be more inclusive and inviting than working-class. First-gen hides some important issues about how class influences students’ experiences. First-gen erases the systemic and collective elements of class. First-gen projects often work hard to foster a sense of community and shared experience among students, but that solidarity is not necessarily tied to broader social conditions or conflicts. First-gen also points to two of the challenges working-class students face: feeling out of place and not knowing how to navigate the institution.
