Nicholas Roeder
IDST 4114
Henderson
14 Apr 2011
Lit Review: Financial aid for the Poor
This research will address the issues of how distribution of financial aid
effects students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and how their resulting decisions
because of aid they do or do not receive, manifest over the course of their lives. The
goal of this research is to incorporate an interdisciplinary perspective across many
relevant disciplines, in an attempt to answer a problem that can only be tackled by
the right combination of disciplines. Literature that will be reviewed will be from
disciplinary sources. Underlying arguments and theories from across the disciplines
will be presented and disseminated to draw connections, and in the end be able to
have an interdisciplinary solution to the paradigm.
The problem of how financial aid for the disadvantaged can have
implications for the rest of that person’s life, and it has ramifications on society as
well. The foundation for any nation is based on the quality of its citizen’s education.
Education is what gives our citizens expertise, and allows a country to be innovative
and economically stable. Earning a college degree is an important indicator of how
successful that person will be in life, with education and salary, but at the larger
scale if a country has more competitive college graduates then that those students
will strengthen country. As with many things in this world, it is money that opens
up the doors to college. Our country is based on the principles of the American
Dream that someone with hard work can go from rags to riches. In today’s
competitive world, education is what gives an edge over the competition. By not
having a solution to how to support and encourage people from disadvantaged
backgrounds, the country is losing people that may have the ability but not the
resources and ultimately hurt the country. It is in our country’s best interest to find
an interdisciplinary solution to this issue that requires an interdisciplinary answer
for the 21st century.
The disciplines I decided to look at are: psychology/sociology, and political
science. I feel psychology is crucial to the problem in order to gain a better
understanding of those involved from policy makers to the students. What I hope to
gain in using psychology in my research is to give insight into how higher education
funding can truly affect the individual. The second discipline to look at is biology. I
want to approach the problem from the biological perspective, and focus on is there
biological predictors and indicators of success in higher education or occupation,
and if those predictors economic status neutral or confined to one specific economic
class. If there is evidence that one economic class is biologically at a disadvantaged
for higher education, then those from that class should receive the tools to be
successful. Third and finally the last discipline I chose to look at the issue was
political science. The political science aspect will give insight into how funding for
higher education is allocated and award to students. I want to examine if funding is
biased or swayed into favoring a certain socio economic group, and how to
appropriately award the money to those who truly need it and will utilize their
education.
Psychology and sociology are crucial to understanding the effects on the
person and group of how the ripples can last through out a person’s life. The first
source I looked at was from the sociological perspective, and written by, B. Clark, in
the American Journal of Sociology. Clark asserts through out that our education
system does a disservice early on by codling kids through school, and makes their
success in higher education less likely. A second source I looked at was again from
the sociological perspective, and written by, Therese Baker, in Sociology of
Education. Baker asserts that minorities regardless of socioeconomic background
are increasingly able to attain higher education. She also notes the importance of
financial aid for those that choose to pursue higher education, and that those that do
receive substantial financial aid packages their resolve is strengthened to complete
their degree. The third and final source was from the psychology perspective,
written by John Davy, in Journal of Further & Higher Education. Davy delves into the
stresses of being from a disadvantaged background, and how such students are
more concerned on how they are going to pay for the semester, which distracts
them from their studies. What Davy is leaning toward is providing the aid
disadvantaged student’s need, so that they can concentrate on their studies.
There is a common theme that both psychology and sociology are
commenting on in relation to the issue of how support and financial aid can affect a
person deeply for the rest of their lives. Not only does a quality education
contribute in the boardroom, but also it contributes to the overall quality of citizens
in its society and enriching the country in the long run. From what I found in the
sources is that disadvantaged students are especially susceptible to not being
successful with higher education if not provided the correct amount of support
around them for which to rely.
Biology is the next perspective that is critical to understanding the issue as a
whole. In Issues in Science & Technology, Bridget Long discusses how the system for
how financial aid is distributed needs to be reworked to prevent those from poorer
backgrounds to fall in the cracks. She also notes if students from poorer
backgrounds are given the aid they need they will be able to contribute more back
into the system because they will have higher incomes than those without degrees.
This view is shared between psychology and sociology. They see aid and support to
people from disadvantaged backgrounds as vulnerable and in need of support. Each
discipline recognizes the potential that lays largely untapped, because of the lack of
support. They all recognize the need to assist this group of people from minorities
to the very poor, because the ability is there and so is the need to support and aid
those without the means to attain a higher education.
Political science last but not least is another piece to the puzzle, and in
conjunction with the others offers a truly interdisciplinary perspective and solution.
In the Journal of Politics, J. Alt, writes that political strife between parties is
detrimental to the effectiveness of programs aimed at providing support and aid for
higher education. He addresses the issues of how funds are allocated in the budget,
and how those are in large part to the differences when a legislature is divided
between parties. Alt also says the converse is true when one party dominates both
houses of legislature, which allows consistency. Stokes, in Contemporary Issues in
Education, addresses how politics factor into support of programs that assist
students from disadvantaged backgrounds attain higher education. He discusses
the possibility of restructuring student loan repayments to allow students from
disadvantaged backgrounds to be able to pay off the debt of student loans in a
manageable way.
What one is able to discern from each discipline is that there is not a specific
answer from one specific discipline. It becomes apparent that this is an issue that
requires an interdisciplinary approach for it to be addressed adequately. Each
discipline: psychology, sociology, biology, and political science, complement each
others deficiencies, and when looked at from a interdisciplinary perspective that
melds each of these disciplines into a single way to view the paradigm of how
distribution of financial aid affects those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Viewing
the paradigm through the interdisciplinary lenses, there may be hope on the horizon
in the future of higher education for all.