Jenny M. Stuber

I am an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Florida. I received my PhD in Sociology from Indiana University and I also hold degrees from Northwestern University and Brown University. My research focuses on the cultural aspects of social class inequality and works from the assumption that social class inequality reflects not simply the fact that some people have more economic resources than others, but also reflects the fact that some people have more valuable cultural resources than others—namely know-how and social connections (social and cultural capital). In addition to my book, Inside the College Gates, my research has appeared in Sociological Forum, The Journal of Contemporary Sociology, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and Teaching in Higher Education.

By looking at the cultural underpinnings of class inequality, my research asks questions about how people understand, enact, and use social class in their everyday lives. I am especially interested in how people understand social class and use their class-based resources within educational settings. My assumption is that “success” within academic settings is only partially shaped by the unequal distribution of cognitive capital, human capital, and economic capital; it is also shaped by the unequal distribution and deployment of social and cultural capital.