Social Capital, Race, and Their Effects on Magnet School Choice

• In Event: 435 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Social Capital across Schooling Contexts

Abstract

Critics of rational choice theory argue that there is an unequal distribution in access to good information about school choice options that favors families with greater social capital and whites. While there is much empirical evidence to support this argument, studies exist that counter it, suggesting that those with low stocks of social capital and racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to exercise school choice. Interestingly, extant studies typically focus on types of school choice other than magnet schools. Using combined student-level data from the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and neighborhood-level data from the United States Census Bureau’s Zip Business Patterns, we examined how neighborhood-level social capital and race/ethnicity impact the exercise of intra-district magnet school choice. Utilizing propensity score stratification matching to account for neighborhood selection, we found that families living in low social capital neighborhoods and racial and ethnic minorities had a higher likelihood of attending an out-of-zone magnet school. Interactions between neighborhood social capital and race suggested that all races living in high social capital neighborhoods had a lower probability of attending a magnet school of choice than their same-race peers in low social capital neighborhoods. Racial and ethnic minorities were more likely than whites to attend an out-of-zone magnet school, whether they lived in high or low social capital neighborhoods.

Keywords: school choice, magnet schools, social capital

Authors

• David Diego Torres, Rice University

• Vansa Shewakramani, William Marsh Rice University