Using Cultural and Social Capital to Negotiate Barriers to Doctoral Completion

• In Event: Reception with ELS Posters

Abstract

Minorities are grossly underrepresented among doctorates in American society. Current literature purports negative social encounters, inadequate mentoring, and limited financial support are key factors contributing to their underrepresentation. The situation is exacerbated by lower-than-acceptable efforts from the nations’ top universities in producing minority doctorates and the prohibitive rate of attrition from doctoral programs. Little research has focused specifically on minority doctoral business students’ social learning experiences in their programs, relative to their social and cultural capital. This presentation highlights the results of a preliminary qualitative study on how minority doctoral students use their social and cultural capital to navigate the “political” deterrents encountered during their doctoral education. Preliminary results show that students bring four major cultural attributes to their education and those attributes are used to garner the political acumen needed to be successfully complete their doctoral degree.
Key Words: Social capital, cultural capital, doctoral completion, business education

Authors

• Minavia Guadeloupe-Williams, Academy of Management

• Sandria S Stephenson, Kennesaw State University-Coles College of Business