Staying in Maine: Family and Community Social Capital in Rural College Graduates Transition to Adulthood

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 13. The Social Context of College Success

Abstract

The growing mandate for higher education creates particular challenges for youth in rural areas given declining economic prospects, lower family incomes and limited access to adults with college degrees. Yet rural students are currently attending college at a higher rate than their peers in any other type of locale. Studies attribute this spike to community social capital—the unspecified and intangible benefits of living in a small town. The purpose of this study is to further specify the concept of community social capital as it relates to family social capital and college attendance among disadvantaged rural students. Through in-depth interviews with 30 college graduates from across Maine (the most rural state), we find variation in family social capital between first-generation college students and their peers. Further, we find a distinction between community social capital—which both positively and negatively influences college attendance—and school social capital—which has a uniformly positive influence.

Author

• Ingrid Nelson, Bowdoin College