Adult Social Capital and Track Placement of Ethnic Groups in Germany

Abstract

The dictum that "context matters" notwithstanding, few researchers have focused on how social capital affects educational outcomes for ethnic groups outside of the United States. Using German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP) data, analyses highlight the group-specific effects of parental social capital on track placement among 11-16-year-old German and non-German students. For both groups, parents' family ties fail to affect track placement. Parents' community ties have mixed effects. Among Germans, parental involvement in sports affects children's tracking positively. Among non-Germans, parental socializing with peers affects track placement negatively, while parental involvement in religion-based community groups and interethnic ties with Germans improve track placement chances. We relate these findings to different strands of social capital theory. How does access to "social capital" affect educational outcomes? Drawing largely on Coleman's (1988) conceptualization, research has focused on the positive impact of triangular ties among parents, teachers, and children (Lareau 1987; Parcel and Dufur 2001; Stanton-Salazar and Dornbusch 1995; Stevenson and Baker 1987). Intragenerational peer networks among children have garnered similar attention, though the literature suggests that such ties may have a detrimental impact on achievement. While some studies point to the positive effects of contacts among adults (Carbonaro 1998), others find that parent involvement and social closure have group-specific, and sometimes even negative, effects on academic outcomes (

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