Reproducing Advantage across the Transition to Higher Education

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 26. Cultural Reproduction and Transmission in Educational Settings

Abstract

College provides a prime opportunity for relationships that span socioeconomic status (SES) to develop. However, studies routinely find SES homophily, with lower SES students having disproportionately lower SES friends. We investigate three general explanations for this form of social closure: (1) homophilous preference, (2) systematic disparities in friendship opportunities, and (3) indirect selection that creates SES homophily spuriously. We evaluate these explanations using longitudinal data on first-year students in a STEM major (N=1,083). Results show that when lower SES students use common friend selection mechanisms to meet new people, they are less likely to encounter high SES peers. This disparity is even more pronounced for students who are URM or come from high poverty high schools. Network models show that these disparities result in friendships that are also disproportionately within group—advantaging higher SES students over lower SES peers. Combined, these processes offer evidence of how university informal friendship development reinforces social closure.

Authors

• David R. Schaefer, University of California-Irvine

• Wesley Jeffrey, University of California-Merced

• Maria G. Rendon, University of California, Irvine