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Immigrant Children’s Access to Social Capital in School-Class Networks

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Integration and Inequality in Educational Institutions

Abstract

Educational Institutions are contexts which structure the opportunity to form friendships. In ethnically diverse classrooms, inter-ethnic friendships can be an important resource. Getting into the “right” or “wrong” crowd is supposed to have effects on school performance as well as on the risk of dropping out from school. Using social network data from 4th graders in elementary schools in Bremen the study analyses social capital in school-class based networks of immigrants and natives. In friendship networks as well as networks of doing homework it will be distinguished between high and low social-capital ties. This distinction will be made by two criteria: First, high and low social-capital ties will be defined according to families’ cultural capital in the “objectified state”, measured by the number of books at home. Secondly, these two different kinds of ties will be distinguished by the grade point average of Ego’s friend or homework-partner. Exponential random graph models show that children of Turkish immigrants have a much higher tendency to make their homework together with other Turkish children, than native Germans do with Germans. However, when we restrict the networks to ties containing high levels of cultural capital it becomes obvious that Turkish children have much lower odds of ties to Alteri who either have high levels of cultural capital at home or good grade point averages. Theses results will be discussed with regard to the theory of social capital in educational institutions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Which is at the same time a secondary institutional effect on integration and inequality in educational institutions.

  2. 2.

    The grade point average was computed for the subjects German, Mathematics and English. Each grade was centred around the class mean in order eliminate teacher specific grade levels.

  3. 3.

    For an example of how to interpret the in-and out-star effects when transitive triads are controlled, see Robins et al. (1999, p. 388).

  4. 4.

    Perhaps, this could also be an issue of the limited living space offered by these blocks, which impedes the possession of many books.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Empirische und Angewandte Soziologie (EMPAS), Universität Bremen, Celsiusstraße 1(FVG), Raum M1061, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Michael Windzio

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  1. Michael Windzio
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Correspondence to Michael Windzio .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. of Empirical & Applied Sociology, University of Bremen, Wiener Strasse/Celsiustrasse FVG, Bremen, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Michael Windzio

Appendix

Appendix

Table A.1 Descriptive statistics
Full size table

Scales (differences between ego and alter were multiplied by –1)

  • Mother: controls leisure time, alpha = 0.754

    1. never, 2. sometimes, 3. often, 4. always, items:

    • During leisure time…

      1. 1.

        Mother knows what I do

      2. 2.

        Mother knows where I am

      3. 3.

        Mother knows whom I am meeting

  • (low) self control, alpha = 0.591

    1. not true, 2. rarely true, 3. rather true, 4. exactly true, items:

    1. 1.

      Have difficulties concentrating

    2. 2.

      Can’t sit still for a long time

    3. 3.

      I tend to become upset if things are not as I like them to be

    4. 4.

      If I am frustrated/upset people should avoid me

    5. 5.

      When I am in conflict with somebody, I can’t stay calm

  • empathy, alpha = 0. 579

    1. not true, 2. rarely true, 3. rather true, 4. exactly true, items:

    1. 1.

      I notice when friends feel bad

    2. 2.

      I can empathize with other children

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Windzio, M. (2013). Immigrant Children’s Access to Social Capital in School-Class Networks. In: Windzio, M. (eds) Integration and Inequality in Educational Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6119-3_9

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