Attitudes and expectations: do attitudes towards education mediate the relationship between social networks and parental expectations?

Abstract

Previous international research has shown that educational goals are fundamental for explaining differences in the educational attainment between individuals. For a better understanding of educational inequality, it is therefore crucial to know more about the mechanisms leading to different expectations. Our paper contributes to this field of research by empirically testing how social networks affect educational expectations of mothers for their children. Furthermore, we try to disentangle the underlying mechanisms by investigating which role resources and attitudes within social networks play in influencing educational expectations. We use quantitative data gathered in three federal states in Germany. The key results indicate that network composition not only has an effect on educational expectations but also on general attitudes towards education. Both attitudes towards education and embedded resources seem to mediate the effect of social ties on educational expectations.

The role of parental expectations in understanding social and academic well-being among children with disabilities in Ireland

“…One US study showed the impact of household income: low income parents were eight times more likely than the high income group to expect their children to progress no further than high school (ChildTrends 2012). In Germany, Roth and Salikutluk (2012) found that the composition of mothers' networks had a significant influence on their educational expectations.…”

The role of social capital in the explanation of educational success and educational inequalities

“…Studies which analyse the effects of parents' networks via their social composition or their access to help from network members indicate the relevance for educational success (e.g. Hofferth et al 1998;Kroneberg 2008;Roth and Salikutluk 2012) but overall empirical evidence is scarce. Therefore, in the empirical analyses presented in this article, I will concentrate on the composition of the social networks of parents.…”

“…In educational sociology, social capital is measured by the family structure and the intensity of parentÁchild interactions, parents' contact with the school and in terms of the social networks of parents and pupils (e.g. Dijkstra, Veenstra, and Peschar 2004;Frank et al 2008;Jaeger 2009;Morgan and Sørensen 1999;Ream and Palardy 2008;Roth and Salikutluk 2012;Traag and van der Velden 2011). While most previous studies focus on one or two of these aspects, this paper aims to investigate the effects of the different facets of social capital on school performance simultaneously.…”

A dynamic analysis of social capital-building of international and UK students

“…Given the globalised labour market, social relationships with others with similar or different cultures may provide graduates with cultural capitals required to be successful in the long term. For example, studies by Heath, Fuller, and Johnston (2010) and Roth and Salikutluk (2012) confirmed that social networks may have an impact on attitude and perceptions towards education.…”