Gender, Social Class, and Exclusion: Collegiate Peer Cultures and Social Reproduction

• Published in: Sociological perspectives Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 431 - 451
• Main Authors: Stuber, Jenny M., Klugman, Joshua, Daniel, Caitlin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA University of California Press 01.09.2011; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Class; College Students; Culture and Networks; Elitism; Fraternal organizations; Fraternities & sororities; Gender; Gender identity; Gender roles; Greece; Higher education; Men; Peer groups; Peers; School campuses; Sex Differences; Sex differentiation; Social Class; Social classes; Social Closure; Social exclusion; Social integration; Social Reproduction; Student fraternities; Student sororities; Greek system; higher education; gender; social class; social reproduction
• ISSN: 0731-1214; 1533-8673
• DOI: 10.1525/sop.2011.54.3.431

This article explores gender and class exclusion among college students. The authors use qualitative data to explore how students talk about gender and class exclusion and quantitative data to model patterns of exclusion within the Greek system. The Greek system serves as a site for social reproduction. Students constructed young women as elitist and prone to class exclusion, while typifying young men as unconcerned with such matters. Quantitative analyses complicate these findings. Within the Greek system, women are less exclusive than alleged and men more so. This discontinuity may reflect gender stereotypes and gender differences in the embodiment of social class. The authors argue that these patterns reinforce male privilege through the assertion that they are not engaged in social class exclusion while lacing undue blame on women as agents of class reproduction.