Did going to public school allow you to more easily work with people from different backgrounds?

[Anonymous]

No, Not at all.

My small public school (100 students in each graduating class) was so homogenous that it was remarkable that I was able to work with folks from different backgrounds when I went to college and joined the workforce.

I credit my parents with that.

[Anonymous]

I went to public all my life and then the last two years were private. The private school kids were more diverse than the public school kids. Racially, economically, family life, etc.

[Anonymous]

My husband grew up in a poor rural area (he was the first in his family to go to college) and I don't know that you'd get the insight and way he knows how to connect with that demographic here in the DMV. But he also got coached specifically on speaking to executives and those from more privileged backgrounds (how to dress, what shoes to wear). When working internationally he also gets education on specific customs there as well.

I do think everyone knows how to code switch to a certain extent but it's a skill that can be learned.

[Anonymous]

Yes but even more so it helped me internalize that not everything is fair or functional or whatever. My spouse who went to private school gets so frustrated when things don’t work the way they should. I think anyone that went to a big public school in a typically resourced area (so not like those small rich towns in NJ, NY or MA) knows how to deal with that and also how to hustle a little bit to make the best from a suboptimal situation. We can afford private but I send my kids to Publix because I want to toughen them up a little.

[Anonymous]

I am biracial and hence a perpetual outsider. I think this has enabled me to relate to many different types of people. I also grew up in DC (80s/90s) and went to school with people from differing SES backgrounds - this probably has helped, too.

That said, I have improbably ended up in West Virginia, of all places, and have found this group the hardest to get along with of all I’ve been exposed to in my life. Tough crowd, for sure.

[Anonymous]

No, lol. Because I went to a public HS in a UMC area that was not diverse at all. Not knocking it because I enjoyed my experience, but just pointing out public schools are definitely not automatically more diverse than private.

[Anonymous]

I went to public school, Catholic school, and an elite private college. I don’t think I really learned to talk to all kinds of people until I started working in my professional career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It did make it easier for me to deal with different people. But also made it harder for me to launch my career as I wasn’t as polished as people that went to private schools. I am doing exceptionally well now but I am in my 50s.

FWIW - I went to an Ivy League school. I send my kids to private as I don’t want them to have to battle as hard as I did.

Similar background but I had the opposite takeaway. It’s relatively easy to pick up the polish but I am very thankful I have common sense, grit, and can get along with all types and different situations. Some of my HYP classmates without public backgrounds seemed … lacking to me.

[Anonymous]

Not really. I started in the workforce at 21, and it's what taught me.

[Anonymous]

I went to public schools and I work in a niche field, took me a whole decade to learn how to speak their language.

I am coaching someone from a similar background in this business and I can appreciate the uphill battle I fought.

[Anonymous]

People who assume urban schools will make it easier for you to work more easily with a range of people ignore most urban schools are not really diverse places. They are filled with poorer kids who have very little exposure to genuine socio economic diversity. Your average suburban high school will have greater diversity.

But in terms of really intermingling all classes, nothing can beat a small town high school where all kids go to the same one high school, whether the doctors' kids or trailer park kids.

As for the thread topic, there are too many nuances to public and private schools. Your typical urban school is as much a bubble as a rich private school, just in a different way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who assume urban schools will make it easier for you to work more easily with a range of people ignore most urban schools are not really diverse places. They are filled with poorer kids who have very little exposure to genuine socio economic diversity. Your average suburban high school will have greater diversity.

But in terms of really intermingling all classes, nothing can beat a small town high school where all kids go to the same one high school, whether the doctors' kids or trailer park kids.

As for the thread topic, there are too many nuances to public and private schools. Your typical urban school is as much a bubble as a rich private school, just in a different way.

Nah, small towns don't prepare you for the big city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious to see if people feel it did.

It's a cope public schoolers tell themselves. Total nonsense. And frankly, who the heck even cares about "easily working with people from different backgrounds"? What does that even mean? Nearly all white collar professionals have a very narrow social orbit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious to see if people feel it did.

It's a cope public schoolers tell themselves. Total nonsense. And frankly, who the heck even cares about "easily working with people from different backgrounds"? What does that even mean? Nearly all white collar professionals have a very narrow social orbit.

Aww we hit a nerve with the snowflake.

[Anonymous]

Learning how to deal with and talk to all the rich moms and dad’s has helped me in my career talk to clients, bosses, executives, etc.