Social Capital and Educational Aspiration of Students: Does Family Social Capital Affect More Compared to School Social Capital?

S M Shahidul,S Mustari,A H M Zehadul Karim

doi:10.5539/ies.v8n12p255

S M Shahidul, S Mustari + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n12p255

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Abstract

<p class="apa">Resources from multiple social contexts influence students’ educational aspiration. In the field of social capital a neglected issue is how students obtain social capital from varying contexts and which contexts benefit them more to shape their future educational plan which consequently affects their level of aspiration. In this study, we aim to examine whether the students’ social capital, which is created by their families, has an extensive effect in shaping their educational aspiration compared to the social capital which is created in schools. We use the information collected from 553 students, their parents and 225 teachers from 12 selected secondary schools in Bangladesh. We conduct a series of multiple linear regression analyses to estimate the influence of family social capital and school social capital on the dependent variable of educational aspiration. To compare the effect size of family social capital and school social capital we consider the standardized Beta (β) weights of these two variables. The results show that beyond the socio-economic status, both family social capital and school social capital positively affect students’ educational aspiration. In addition, when we compare the effect size of these two variables, results show that family social capital has more strength compared to school social capital to predict the educational aspiration outcome of students.</p>

Highlights

Educational aspiration has long been considered as an important psychological aspect of students’ propensity of attaining a high level of education which significantly impacts adolescents’ future life
We aim to examine whether the students’ social capital, which is created by their families, has an extensive effect in shaping their educational aspiration compared to the social capital which is created in schools
Students’ educational aspiration becomes higher when a favorable condition exists in the family, in the by parents of these students

Summary

Introduction

Educational aspiration has long been considered as an important psychological aspect of students’ propensity of attaining a high level of education which significantly impacts adolescents’ future life. Social capital is the most important contributor in improving the educational aspiration which mediates the effects of students’ socioeconomic background and educational aspiration. Colman (1988) first introduced the conceptual framework of social capital as an influential factor on children’s educational development. Colman recommends that strong family and schools backgrounds are important for the educational development of children. Several studies found that social capital is the foremost predicting factor of academic outcome. Their study shows that social capital has many positive academic outcomes. Author examines that family and school capital affect independently and together on students’ academic outcome. Though social capital positively affects students’ academic outcome, we observe two limitations in the literature and our objective is to examine the following research www.ccsenet.org/ies

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