Family Social Capital Transmission and (Re-)engagement in Secondary School

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. The Role of Social and Cultural Capital

Abstract

Completion of secondary and post-secondary levels of education is associated with positive financial, health, and civic outcomes. To facilitate the advantages that come with education, there is much attention currently paid to ensuring that youth in the United States stay engaged in school or re-engage if they have disconnected or dropped out. Individuals who have higher levels of education tend to have more robust social capital, granting them access to institutional resources and information, thus furthering their success. This social capital is transmitted to them throughout their educations from school, community, and family sources. This study explored the narratives of students enrolling in an alternative school after having previously disengaged and sought to challenge the traditional ways in which family members are thought to transmit social capital to their children in order to help them succeed. For students whose parents had not been successful in school themselves, transmission of social capital did not follow institutional norms of parent involvement, such as teaching children how to navigate institutional norms, reinforcing academic material and tangible involvement with schools. However, parents’ strategies of motivating students to engage in school, which in several cases did not include these recognized methods, appeared to be effective in student perseverance.

Author

• Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor, Clark University