Social Capital Measurement During Transitionary Life Stages Among Youth

• In Event: Perspectives on Social Capital in K–12 and Higher Educational Contexts

Abstract

This paper focuses on transition-age youth between the ages of 16 and 24 and the need for more valid and reliable tools for measuring social capital. The paper argues that due to a lack of focused, societal resources and (arguably) strategic advocacy, there has been a persistent inability to document how inequitable access to resources through social networks result in stratified opportunities and outcomes during the transitionary, life stage known as young-adulthood. The paper considers the current challenges and limitations involving social capital measurements (i.e., during this transitional life stage) and the need to pilot an instrument to measure youth social capital in the context of postsecondary transitions. Such instrumentation is poised to respond to the need for more empirical social capital research about youth and disparities that might exist among youth during critical, life transitions.

Authors

• Sarah Ryan, Ryan Research Consulting

• Lisa S. Romero, California State University - Sacramento