Social Capital Development and Network Inequality in Undergraduate Education

• In Event: 16.056 - Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: 16.056-13 - What Does It Take to Be Successful? Reconsidering the Roles of Language, Social Capital, and Resources

Abstract

Research on social capital suggests the importance of social ties in improving people's life chances. Despite this, little research has been conducted on how people develop social capital in the first place. Through the use of interviews and ethnography, this paper examines how undergraduate students develop social capital and networks at two types of undergraduate institutions--an elite residential private college, and a large public commuter college. This paper identifies organizational mechanisms at elite residential colleges that promote social network growth among privileged students, but inhibit it among less privileged minority students. The findings suggest that differences both within and between colleges can reinforce existing network inequalities and stratification.

Author

• Christopher G. Takacs, University of Chicago