Limited opportunities: Adolescents’ access to social capital in secondary schools in three European countries

• Published in: Social networks Vol. 74; pp. 245 - 258
• Main Author: Lenkewitz, Sven
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Access to social capital; Between-school sorting; Friendships; School networks; Within-between random effects (REWB) models; Access to social capital; Between-school sorting; Within-between random effects (REWB) models; Friendships; School networks
• ISSN: 0378-8733; 1879-2111
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2023.05.001

While previous research indicates that students benefit from their peers’ resources, little is known about access to social capital in the school context. Therefore, this study examines differential access to social capital – measured by friends’ socioeconomic status (SES), the number of books they have at home, and their reading habits – in secondary schools in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Relying on a large-scale dataset, I investigate the association between socioeconomic status, minority status, and social capital using complete friendship network information. I argue that social capital access is connected to a two-stage process consisting of school sorting and friendship selection. To differentiate between these two processes, I apply within-between random effects (REWB). The models show that friendship selection is much less relevant for access to social capital than school sorting. Results indicate that while high-SES students have better access to social capital across dimensions, access patterns for minority students are more nuanced. •Socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority students suffer a social capital deficit.•Access to social capital can be differentiated into a two-stage process: school sorting and friendship selection.•Socio-demographic characteristics are related to social capital mainly via school sorting as opposed to friendship selection.•While between-school sorting is relevant for social capital access in all countries, Sweden has the smallest association.