Social Capital in Schools: Building Effective "Resource Centers" for Low-Income High School Students

• In Event: 394 - Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. Evaluating Educational Programs and Policies: Challenges and Successes

Abstract

This paper explicates how a school organization effectively creates strong social capital for traditionally at-risk students resulting in high graduation rates and high college attendance. First the challenge of social capital creation for low-income students is addressed as it turns the theoretical concept a bit on its head with reluctant benefactors and determined providers. Then organizational strategies are examined taking social capital not just as a feature of individual students’ relationships with specific institutional agents but as a feature of the organizational environment of the school. Prior research has established the critical importance of school-based social capital particularly for low-income students. Findings fill in gaps in our knowledge of how social capital is generated in a school setting.

Author

• Alisa Szatrowski, University of California-Berkeley