Participation and Position: Predicting Centrality in Parents' School-based Networks

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 05. Social Capital, Social Network, and Higher Education

Abstract

Schools are key institutional brokers of social capital. Through school-based networks, parents may obtain childrearing advice, information about schooling, instrumental assistance, and emotional support. Yet, access to social networks is shaped in part by one’s social position—even within a single school, parents have unequal access to school-based networks. What accounts for the centrality of some parents within these networks and the marginal positions of others? Though there is much to be gained through these ties, scholars have not yet adequately considered this question. In this study, we examine what factors predict a parent’s centrality in their school-based networks. We use social network analysis to examine the network of mothers of 8th-grade students at a Philadelphia public school. Findings demonstrate that both position and participation are key factors in understanding parents’ network position. Race, but not socio-economic status, is a crucial influence on network centrality. Even when other key variables are taken into account, being White was associated with being able to name over three additional parents in one’s school network. Also, a parent’s voluntary participation at the school explains substantial variance in network positions. We find that, on average, parents involved in many school activities not only know more parents, but know more parents who are highly connected to other parents. Our study has implications for research on parent social networks and has the potential to inform public policy and practice on family and community engagement in schools.

Authors

• Rand Quinn, University of Pennsylvania

• Amanda Barrett Cox, University of Pennsylvania

• Amy C. Steinbugler, Dickinson College