"It's just not a topic", social class perspectives of female, working class students of colour

grantor: University of TorontoThe aim of this study is to develop a framework that foregrounds class in the analysis of the racialized, gendered, and classed schooling experiences of working class females of colour. The findings suggest that the earlier theoretical approaches to class definitions that emphasize rigid socio-economic factors are inappropriate for the analysis of the schooling experiences of working class girls of colour. Instead, an understanding of the fluid aspects of the material, academic, attitudinal/behavioural, gendered and racial dimensions of class is a necessary prerequisite to understanding the material conditions needed for success. Students' responses to the role of social class can be seen as strategies for success, and ultimately, strategies for social class transcendance. This class perspective sheds light on the role of class in the racialized, classed, and gendered lives of today's marginalized youth, and provides insight into the conditions necessary for academic and social success in the contemporary context.M.A