The Role of Social Network Members on Educational Decision Making during the Transition to Adulthood

• In Event: 534 - Section on Children and Youth Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Peers and Social Networks

Abstract

This article explores individual perceptions of the ways that social network members (e.g. family, peers) influence how a young person becomes an adult. Specifically, this study examines perceptions of influence surrounding the decision to pursue education beyond a compulsory level. Utilizing data from interviews with 60 young adults who are all exactly 30 years old, findings indicate that differences in both the source and form of influence can partly explain variation in educational outcomes. Across respondents of all family education levels, parents were the most commonly cited source of influence. This influence was largely remembered to be positive, as parents utilized multiple techniques to promote the acquisition of higher education. The young adults from less educated families who remembered these parental techniques were more likely to report earning at least a college degree. However, a smaller set of respondents remembered parental influence to be intrusive on adulthood goals, thereby viewing parental influence as more of an obstacle. Peers were identified as helpful toward the beginnings of pursuing education beyond high school, but they were not able to offer the necessary support for the completion of higher education. These findings suggest that while structural factors play an important role in guiding the ways that young people move into adulthood, the members of the groups in which young people are embedded also play a large role in shaping how adulthood decisions are made.

Author

• Christina Panagakis, State University of New York-Buffalo