No. of Recommendations: 3
Much of rural America does not understand urban issues. My ex-manager was from out in the sticks. The assistant manager was just trying to stop the random comments directed at all sorts of people, not just African Americans. Those comments destroyed her career. The assistant manager was not trying to stop racism. The general manager got the reports from many sources on stray comments from the manager.
That's part of human capital as well. The knowledge and skills necessary to avoid problems in a workplace culture, independent of your ability to do the job. This is really debilitating for a lot of people, and also probably linked to their family of origin. If your parents are high-income earners in a professional environment, you don't just get the benefit of their money - you get taught how to behave in a professional environment.
It doesn't necessarily mean you have the same values or culture, but it means you at least have the skills to perform the values and/or culture you're trying to fit into. The behavioral analog to code switching. That's a thing that also can't be solved by just transferring money into the household.
It's not just "sticks vs. urban." It can also be a "low income vs. middle class" thing as well. Selective colleges are finding that they're having trouble retaining the "first generation" students that they spend a lot of time recruiting. Part of it is that the first-gen students sometimes lack not just the financial wherewithal, but also the social/human capital needed to flourish in college environment.
