A qualitative study of low socioeconomic status students in a predominantly high socioeconomic status college in Bangkok, Thailand (Bangkok Business College)
Author(s):
Buranasombati, Pises
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : Illinois State University, 1995.
Pages:
168
Language:
English
Abstract:
A qualitative study was conducted during the summer of 1995 to gather descriptive data from a sample of Hill Tribes students who were attending the Bangkok Business College, Bangkok, Thailand. The purpose of the research was to gather descriptive data from a sample of low socio-economic status (SES) Hill Tribes students (Hmong, Karen and Lisu) attending a predominantly high SES college in Thailand. The study focused on the factors that are important in low SES student adjustment and achievement and the success of the application used in predominantly white colleges in the United States to help indigenous students achieve academic success. The micro-level approach employing a qualitative method was used for the investigation. The research found that Hill Tribes children value education as a way to raise their socio-economic status through employment in urban areas. While parents did not provide financial support for the education of their children, they took advantage of the national educational policy for indigenous people. The opportunity for Hill Tribes students to continue their education depended on direct and indirect costs. The most important indirect cost was the social cost. The mechanisms that helped reduce the direct costs were scholarship and accommodation. The academic success of the Hill Tribes students in a predominantly high SES college was the result of academic and social guidance and counseling as well as work placement programs on the part of the college. The students' endeavor to acquire academic success through participation of academic activities stemmed from their desire for academic success. This study revealed that there was a positive response for other SES groups to socially accept low SES indigenous students.