Blake R. Silver is associate professor of sociology at George Mason University, where he also serves as director of educational pathways and faculty development in the Honors College. He is the author of The Cost of Inclusion: How Student Conformity Leads to Inequality on College Campuses, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

“Silver delivers on this deep ethnographic exploration into the everyday experiences of students as they grapple with inequality on college campuses. Students’ resiliency may actually heighten risk and insecurity in fascinatingly troubling ways. Upwardly mobile students find themselves in precarious social standings that few overcome without accruing more debt and succumbing to an inequitable education system. The social and cultural capital gap and how it drives insecurity is paramount. This book is important for those aiming to understand the depths of how inequality seeps into higher education.”

• Prologue1. Welcome to the Ivory Casino2. Precarious Pioneers: Deploying Resilience for an Uncertain Journey3. Risk Minimizers: Using Resistance to Alleviate Insecurity4. Opportunity Maximizers: Building an Enterprising Self5. Insulated Explorers: Flexibility and the Pursuit of Self-Discovery6. Amplifying or Alleviating Insecurity: The Role of Universities7. The Lessons of PrecarityAcknowledgmentsAppendix: MethodsNotesReferencesIndex

Blake R. Silver is associate professor of sociology at George Mason University, where he also serves as director of educational pathways and faculty development in the Honors College. He is the author of The Cost of Inclusion: How Student Conformity Leads to Inequality on College Campuses, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

“Silver delivers on this deep ethnographic exploration into the everyday experiences of students as they grapple with inequality on college campuses. Students’ resiliency may actually heighten risk and insecurity in fascinatingly troubling ways. Upwardly mobile students find themselves in precarious social standings that few overcome without accruing more debt and succumbing to an inequitable education system. The social and cultural capital gap and how it drives insecurity is paramount. This book is important for those aiming to understand the depths of how inequality seeps into higher education.”

• Prologue1. Welcome to the Ivory Casino2. Precarious Pioneers: Deploying Resilience for an Uncertain Journey3. Risk Minimizers: Using Resistance to Alleviate Insecurity4. Opportunity Maximizers: Building an Enterprising Self5. Insulated Explorers: Flexibility and the Pursuit of Self-Discovery6. Amplifying or Alleviating Insecurity: The Role of Universities7. The Lessons of PrecarityAcknowledgmentsAppendix: MethodsNotesReferencesIndex