Beyond School Desegregation Policy: Students' Interracial Friendships and Their Influences on Social Capital and Academic Achievement

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: School Demographics and Social Opportunity

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between students’ interracial friendships, social capital, and academic outcomes using the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. The results reveal that non-White students tend to have more interracial friendships than whites. The relationships among the number of interracial friendships, social capital, and students’ achievement differ by student and school demographic backgrounds. While having more interracial friendships is positively associated with students’ reading achievement across all racial groups, non-White students benefit more from their interracial friendships than White students do.

Author

• Sun Young Yoon, New York University