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Young people, social capital and network-based educational decision-making

Young people, social capital and network-based educational decision-making
Young people, social capital and network-based educational decision-making
This paper explores whether and in what ways young people's perceptions and experiences of higher education (HE) can facilitate the transmission within their social networks of social capital both upwardly (from child to parent) and horizontally (from sibling to sibling), and thus can potentially provide bridging capital to family members, especially in families with little or no prior experience of HE. It utilises data from a project that explored the embedded nature of decision-making about HE amongst a group of 'potentially recruitable' adults and their wider networks. The study researched 16 networks, and the resultant sample of 107 individuals included six teenagers and 15 young people in their twenties. The paper concludes that, despite the general emphasis within existing theoretical approaches to network capital on the downward transmission of social capital, the educational experiences of younger generations can be critical in shaping the perceptions of other (including older) network members, albeit not always in ways that encourage formal educational participation.
social capital, widening participation, higher education, social networks
0142-5692
395-411
Heath, Sue
f4df85b4-fdde-4353-8641-08a4b9fbbcae
Fuller, Alison
c6b47796-05b5-4548-b67e-2ca2f2010fef
Johnston, Brenda
19367bd6-ac46-4e33-a352-ace08c2d4323
Heath, Sue
f4df85b4-fdde-4353-8641-08a4b9fbbcae
Fuller, Alison
c6b47796-05b5-4548-b67e-2ca2f2010fef
Johnston, Brenda
19367bd6-ac46-4e33-a352-ace08c2d4323

Heath, Sue, Fuller, Alison and Johnston, Brenda (2010) Young people, social capital and network-based educational decision-making. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31 (4), 395-411. (doi:10.1080/01425692.2010.484918).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper explores whether and in what ways young people's perceptions and experiences of higher education (HE) can facilitate the transmission within their social networks of social capital both upwardly (from child to parent) and horizontally (from sibling to sibling), and thus can potentially provide bridging capital to family members, especially in families with little or no prior experience of HE. It utilises data from a project that explored the embedded nature of decision-making about HE amongst a group of 'potentially recruitable' adults and their wider networks. The study researched 16 networks, and the resultant sample of 107 individuals included six teenagers and 15 young people in their twenties. The paper concludes that, despite the general emphasis within existing theoretical approaches to network capital on the downward transmission of social capital, the educational experiences of younger generations can be critical in shaping the perceptions of other (including older) network members, albeit not always in ways that encourage formal educational participation.

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Published date: July 2010
Keywords: social capital, widening participation, higher education, social networks

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 153747
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/153747
ISSN: 0142-5692
PURE UUID: cda5bf55-2a83-4978-9377-534971a032e6

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Date deposited: 21 May 2010 08:35
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:31

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Contributors

Author: Sue Heath
Author: Alison Fuller
Author: Brenda Johnston

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