kallienebenjamin.bsky.social
Historian at Elmhurst U, UW Madison + UT Austin alum
Good Parents, Better Homes, and Great Schools: Selling Segregation before the New Deal available July 2025 from UNC Press
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Also, ½ of our students are transfers with most coming from 2-year colleges. Honestly, many of them struggle with upper-level coursework because they did very little critical reading & writing in their previous classes. They sometimes complain that the 2-year college didn’t prepare them well.
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Thanks! I’m curious about certain combinations of majors & ROI, but I know it would be difficult to do, especially with EDU. At my school, 1st-years start as HIS and then later apply for EDU, but transfers often start as EDU, so HIS might be 2nd. Other schools might not require 2 majors for SEC EDU.
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Very interesting article. Thank you. Are you including HIS in HUM (according to Table A-6, HIS is in the middle tier). I teach 1st-gen students at an HSI. About 1/2 of our HIS majors are also EDU. Another chunk double-major in POL and some BUS. I didn't catch how you accounted for double majors?
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I really enjoyed your article! According to my research, affluent families were taught more than 100 years ago that spacious, single-family homes in areas with few apartments were best for childrearing. I would love to know more about your future findings in other neighborhoods.
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The stunning amount of vacant land in Bronzeville and Englewood demonstrates how much racial segregation continues to shape housing patterns.
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Excellent! Be sure to read through the last paragraph.
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Historically, economic and racial segregation have played an important role. Boards of appeal have been willing to loosen restrictions in communities of color far more often than in affluent, white areas.
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Yes, but it is the old way, too...
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This has been true since the progressive era, when the seeds of New Deal liberalism (government by experts) were planted. Expertise can come off as arrogance, especially when it appears as if affluent liberals are mostly looking after their own interests (housing, education, jobs, parenting, etc.).
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The inequities are caused by the fact that many of these schools are ridiculously understaffed (while other schools are able to offer everything under the sun). Faculty and staff try to make up the difference through long hours, but the number of contingent faculty is rising. I am worried.
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Absolutely. I agree, which is why I said these schools are the true engines of upward mobility. I teach at an HSI with a majority first-gen student population. Our students come here because of the nurturing environment. I am currently providing feedback on 2nd drafts, and I'll spend an hour on each
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Historically, we have relied on immigration to balance out a falling fertility rate (which began falling during the revolutionary period). Schools also look to international students to grow enrollment, but we have an administration determined to choke off both. Who will want to come here?
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Agreed. I just worry because the institutions that will be most affected are those that serve first-gen students/students of color, who want or need to stay closer to home. These are the "cherish or perish" schools that provide lots of one-on-one attention.
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This dynamic further fuels income inequality. Tuition-driven schools are the true engines of upward mobility, but they operate on budgets with only a fraction of the resources available to top-tier schools. I do wish we would talk about this more.
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Thanks for sharing this. We have a two-tier education system. Acceptance rates/discount rates go up at schools that are tuition driven and terrified of the "demographic cliff." Meanwhile, prestigious institutions can charge whatever the market will bear, leading to severe educational inequality.
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And, of course, expensive child care exacerbates income inequality, adding to the multifaceted advantages of upper-middle-class children.