This review provides a critical appraisal of the measurement of students’ social class and socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of widening higher education participation. Most assessments of social class and SES in higher education have focused on objective measurements based on the income, occupation, and education of students’ parents, and they have tended to overlook diversity among students based on factors such as age, ethnicity, indigeneity, and rurality. However, recent research in psychology and sociology has stressed the more subjective and intersectional nature of social class. The authors argue that it is important to consider subjective self-definitions of social class and SES alongside more traditional objective measures. The implications of this dual measurement approach for higher education research are discussed.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	diversity, first-generation students, higher education, intersectionality, research methodology, selfdefinition; social class, socioeconomic status
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Education systems
Research Field:	Higher education
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Schools and learning environments
Objective Field:	Equity and access to education
UTAS Author:	Kilpatrick, S (Professor Sue Kilpatrick)
ID Code:	90053
Year Published:	2014
Web of Science® Times Cited:	85
Deposited By:	Academic Division
Deposited On:	2014-03-25
Last Modified:	2017-06-26
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