Sociology Seminar Series: Melissa Osborne

Polished: College, Class, and the Burdens of Social Mobility For low-income and first-generation students at elite schools, college can feel like entering a whole new world. Along with academic and financial challenges, their emotional lives also shift as they navigate different cultural and class backgrounds. These students often face a difficult choice: blend in with their peers and abandon their former lives, or stay true to themselves, risking isolation from other students. In this talk, Melissa Osborne will share insights from their book Polished: College, Class, and the Burdens of Social Mobility based on interviews and ethnography with 150 first-generation and low-income students at 18 elite colleges and universities. Osborne reveals how the support systems meant to help these students can unintentionally reshape their identities, often creating tension between their aspirations and their connections to family and community. Without direct institutional support, this emotional struggle can lead to feelings of alienation, mental health challenges, and difficult decisions about balancing upward mobility with authenticity. Melissa Osborne is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Western Washington University and an education and organizational consultant. Her primary research centers on social mobility, inequality, and the role that organizations play in shaping individuals’ pathways and experiences. She has published research that explores this dynamic in the contexts of education, social services, law, and medicine. Her new book, Polished: College, Class, and the Burden of Social Mobility, examines how selective colleges reshape first-generation students and considers the impact this process has on these students as they navigate expected and unexpected challenges during college. Melissa was a first-generation college student and received her AA from Umpqua Community College in 2010, her BA from Reed College in 2013, and her MA and PhD from the University of Chicago in 2015 and 2019 respectively. When she isn’t teaching or doing research, she can usually be found making miniature dioramas, playing Dungeons & Dragons, or spending time in the woods with her cat, Bill. Co-sponsored by The Newbury Center