Abstract
Social capital strengthens emerging adults’ ability to reach life goals, but little is known about how peers and near-peers (slightly older and/or more experienced peers who serve in mentorship or coaching roles) support social capital development especially among young people of color. To address this gap, the current study examined how social capital derived from peers and near-peers contributes to emerging adults’ ability to actively mobilize social capital in pursuit of their education or career goals (i.e., self-initiated social capital) and, in turn, their education and career outcomes. A total of 841 emerging adults who participated in one of five community-based education and/or workforce support programs were surveyed (72% female; Mage = 20.1, SD = 1.84; 35% Latinx, 30% Black, 19% Asian, 16% Other). Peer social capital was indirectly associated with outcomes (i.e., progress towards education/career goals, commitment to paying-it-forward, collective efficacy to change systems) via greater self-initiated social capital, whereas near-peer social capital was both directly and indirectly associated with outcomes. The mechanisms by which peer and near-peer social capital support emerging adults as they work towards their goals may differ and have important program implications.
Highlights
Social capital is an important vehicle for helping emerging adults make progress on the journey towards their education, career, and life goals
Programs for the current study were selected to participate based on several criteria: (1) a shared mission to enhance education and/or career outcomes for young adults by strengthening program participant’s social capital, (2) programs predominately served emerging adults of color; (3) programs were designed to intentionally connect program participants with peers through a cohort model and/or with peers within their community, and (4) programs provide emerging adults with near-peers, individuals who serve as mentors/coaches and provide ongoing education and/or career goal support throughout the program either through face-to-face or virtual programming
Social capital and youth development theorists have consistently argued that strong relationships are critical for emerging adults’ postsecondary success, and that strong workforce and education support programs that provide access to this type of social capital is one avenue for facilitating success
Summary
Social capital is an important vehicle for helping emerging adults make progress on the journey towards their education, career, and life goals. While many programs and interventions are intentionally designed to provide young adults of color with high-quality, supportive peer and/or other non-familial relationships (e.g., youth mentoring), little is known about the mechanism through which social capital derived from these relationships is associated with positive education and career outcomes and whether social capital from different types of relationships (peers vs near-peer) contributes to these outcomes To address this gap, the present study examines the extent to which peer and near-peer (slightly older and/or more experienced peers who serve in a mentorship and/or coaching role) social capital strengthens emerging adults’ self-initiated social capital (i.e., the degree to which an individual actively mobilizes their social capital to reach their goals), and in turn, their progress towards education and career goals, their commitment to helping others reach their goals, and their collective efficacy to change education and employment systems
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