Can degree attainment provide a clear path towards upward social mobility? Andrew Braaksma, in his essay “Some Lessons from the Assembly Line,” would argue that education can and does provide such opportunities. In the essay, Braaksma details his life as a college student that moonlights on summer vacations as an assemblyman at a factory plant. He highlights the disparity between the two worlds – detailing the grueling days at the plant with that of an easy life at school – while underscoring the importance and advantages of a formal education by inferring that without a degree, he could become an assemblyman indefinitely. The essay draws a socioeconomic line in the sand between those with and without a degree. However, social class in America
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However, in doing so, he created a line between them and us, college life versus assembly line life, which plays into the cultural divide among the middle-class (Torlina, 2011). The readers of his piece may see working at a factory outside themselves and outside of their realm of possibilities when in reality, many factory workers are considered middle-skilled, and many of them are in the same socioeconomic bracket as their college-educated counterparts. According to Bird and Newport (2017), 43% of Americans self-identify as middle-class which comprises of incomes ranging from $30K-$74K annually. Therefore, the difference between social classes, in this case in the middle-class, is education which showed the main diverging factor in what separates the working middle-class and the solid middle-class. With that said, those with access to higher education are not much different from someone working at a plant, at least regarding …show more content…
The ever-varying term of middle class encompasses both blue-collar and white-collar Americans, and while some may feel a sense of superiority to those working in factory plants, the truth is that they take home similar incomes in comparison to upper-middle class and the upper 1%. Education, culturally, may put you in a different class, but economically, the differences become quite minute. So, while Braaksma is correct in noting that degree attainment may produce job security and less physical labor, the undertone of social difference is incorrect. For instance, when he notes that he feels like a voyeur in the factory (Braaksma, 2005, para.8) one could understand that on a personal level but not on a universal level because Americans born to middle-income parents will most likely still be part of the same middle-class club as adults. Therefore, the us versus them mentality and the negative stigma aimed at blue-collar work is at best an oversimplification and at worst a bias that should be
However, in doing so, he created a line between them and us, college life versus assembly line life, which plays into the cultural divide among the middle-class (Torlina, 2011). The readers of his piece may see working at a factory outside themselves and outside of their realm of possibilities when in reality, many factory workers are considered middle-skilled, and many of them are in the same socioeconomic bracket as their college-educated counterparts. According to Bird and Newport (2017), 43% of Americans self-identify as middle-class which comprises of incomes ranging from $30K-$74K annually. Therefore, the difference between social classes, in this case in the middle-class, is education which showed the main diverging factor in what separates the working middle-class and the solid middle-class. With that said, those with access to higher education are not much different from someone working at a plant, at least regarding …show more content…
The ever-varying term of middle class encompasses both blue-collar and white-collar Americans, and while some may feel a sense of superiority to those working in factory plants, the truth is that they take home similar incomes in comparison to upper-middle class and the upper 1%. Education, culturally, may put you in a different class, but economically, the differences become quite minute. So, while Braaksma is correct in noting that degree attainment may produce job security and less physical labor, the undertone of social difference is incorrect. For instance, when he notes that he feels like a voyeur in the factory (Braaksma, 2005, para.8) one could understand that on a personal level but not on a universal level because Americans born to middle-income parents will most likely still be part of the same middle-class club as adults. Therefore, the us versus them mentality and the negative stigma aimed at blue-collar work is at best an oversimplification and at worst a bias that should be