Socio-Economic Resources

This page provides resources that bring awareness to the impacts of socio-economic status and the intersectionality of socio-economic status and marginalized groups in order to promote communities of equity and justice and to support our students, faculty and staff.

Abel, J. R. and Deitz, R. (2020, July 13). Delaying College During the Pandemic Can Be Costly. Liberty Street Economics. 

American Psychological Association. (2017, July). Education and Socioeconomic Status.

Fain, P. (2020, June 17). Higher Education and Work Amid Crisis. Inside Higher Education.

Jackson, M., & Tran, N. (2020, November 6). Thriving Because of, Not Despite, Their Identity. Inside Higher Education.

Jaschik, S. (2021, April 12). Why Students Aren’t Filling Out the FAFSA. Inside Higher Ed. 

Haney, David P. (2020, November 6). Supporting First-Generation Students’ Spirit of Engagement. Inside Higher Ed. 

Haskins, R. Education and Economic Mobility. The Brookings Institution.  

Lederman, D. (2020, August 25). The Many Forms of Postsecondary Inequity. Inside Higher Education.

Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. (2020). Awareness of Socioeconomic Diversity.

Salomon-Fernandez, Y. (2020, June 9). Can the Racial and Economic Justice Movement Help Advance Equity in Higher Education? Diverse Issues in Higher Education. 

Soto-Gomez, K. (2020, June 9). ‘It’s As If They Just Disappeared.’ The Challenge of Engaging Financially-Stressed Students During a Pandemic. EdSurge.

Vara-Orta, F. (2018, August 6).  Hate in Schools: An IN-Depth Look. Education Week.

Whitmire, R. (2020, May 17). Due to COVID-19, thousands of low-income students are deferring and dropping college plans. The Hill.  

Newsom, J. S. (2020). The Great American Lie. - The Great American Lie is a documentary film that examines how a US value system built on the extreme masculine ideals of money, power and control has glorified individualism, institutionalized inequality, and undermined the ability of most Americans to achieve the American Dream. The main topic of this film is arguably one of the most important issues of our time: social and economic immobility. Inequality has been on the rise in America for more than three decades. Middle and low-income wages have remained stagnant or decreased, while top earners have seen their wages increase 135% since 1979. Today, the top .1% of Americans owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. This film is incredibly timely because of the staggering state of inequality today, but this film is also important because it is new. By bringing the unique perspective of gender to this story, this film expands the conversation around the causes and solutions to America's inequality and division. With our history and experience in illuminating and challenging limiting gender narratives in our society, our documentary team is uniquely qualified to tell this story.

Crenshaw, K. (2016, October). The Urgency of Intersectionality. TED. - “Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both. In this moving talk, she calls on us to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice.” 

Link Year. (2017, October 14). Privilege/Class/Social Inequalities Explained in a $100 Race. Youtube. 

McGhee, H. C. (2019, December). Racism Has a Cost for Everyone. TED. - “Racism makes our economy worse -- and not just in ways that harm people of color, says public policy expert Heather C. McGhee. From her research and travels across the US, McGhee shares startling insights into how racism fuels bad policymaking and drains our economic potential -- and offers a crucial rethink on what we can do to create a more prosperous nation for all. "Our fates are linked," she says. "It costs us so much to remain divided." 

Pose - “Pose is set in the world of 1987 and "looks at the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the rise of the luxury universe, the downtown social and literary scene and the ball culture world." 

Healthy People (on Poverty and Health) – “Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For 3 decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time in order to: Encourage collaborations across communities and sectors; Empower individuals toward making informed health decisions; Measure the impact of prevention activities.”

USU Open Educational Resources (OER) are openly-licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes - without cost or access barriers. Open educational resources include textbooks, full courses, course materials, modules, streaming videos, tests, software, study aides, games, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge. (source: Hewlett Foundation)

Anderson, E. (2000). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city. WW Norton & Company. 

Bray, R. L. (1999). Unafraid of the Dark: A memoir. Anchor. 

Isenberg, N. (2017). White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. Penguin Random House.

Lorde, A. (2007, August 1). Sister Outsider. Penguin Random House. 

Mock, J. (2014, December 2). Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More. Atria Books. 

Morrison, T. (2007, May 8). The Bluest Eye. Penguin Random House. 

Oliver, M. L., Shapiro, T. M., & Shapiro, T. (2006). Black wealth, white wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality. Taylor & Francis.