The glass ceiling in science and engineering

This article examines the effects of race and gender on occupational status and promotions in American science and engineering using the 1989 Survey of Natural and Social Scientists and Engineers. Results indicate that, compared to whites, blacks and Asians were equally less likely to be a manager in 1982. However, the analysis shows that, during the period of 1982 and 1989, only Asians (especially females) had a relatively low tendency to be promoted to management. The assimilation thesis, the human capital model, and the differential placement perspective do not explain race/gender differences in occupational status and promotions. The results provide support for the double penalty thesis. There is also evidence of a race/gender hierarchy in science and engineering.     

Network social capital as an outcome of social movement mobilization: Using the position generator as an indicator of social network diversity

In the social mobility literature, the position generator (PG) has been used to examine the relationship between the structural location of individuals, and outcomes such as obtaining a high status job. Diversity of occupational ties (as measured by the PG) is also a significant predictor of an individual's cultural capital. A great deal of work has also been done in the field of social movements examining the relationship between networks and mobilization. However, only limited attention has been given to the position generator in this literature. Also, while past research has demonstrated that prior network ties to activists is one of the most important predictors of current activism, relatively little research has been devoted to examining network structure as an outcome of activism. The present paper builds upon these insights by utilizing data collected with the position generator on a sample of environmental movement members, and examining the relationship between individual activism (as an independent variable) and diversity of occupational ties (as a dependent variable). The result of key theoretical significance is that those who are more active in the environmental movement develop a greater diversity of occupational ties to other environmentalists. Results suggest that this process occurs over time. These findings provide evidence that social capital (as indicated by network diversity) is one outcome of social movement mobilization.     

Immigrant socioeconomic mobility in the United States: Mechanisms of inequality and the role of ethnic capital

We review recent social science research on the socioeconomic mobility of immigrants to the United States by focusing on the educational, occupational, and income attainments among immigrant adults, the first‐generation, and the educational attainment of their children, the New Second‐Generation. Existing research has identified significant inequalities in educational attainment between second‐generation Asian and Latinx immigrant groups. Researchers have also highlighted the importance of ethnic capital for mobility, but we find that they have largely proceeded with the assumption that co‐ethnic ties are easily available as a benefit for immigrants upon resettlement. We propose that future research on immigrant socioeconomic mobility should incorporate conceptual insights from economic and cultural sociology as well as use comparative ethnographic research designs to directly observe how ethnic capital operates to challenge or reinforce patterns of socioeconomic inequality.     

Social mobility and social capital in contemporary Britain

This paper seeks to contribute to social capital research by linking measures of formal and informal forms of social capital to social mobility trajectories and assessing their impact on social trust. Drawing on data from a recent national survey – Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion (2003/2004 ) – we analyse formal civic engagement and informal social connections. The latter data are obtained using, for the first time in a study in Britain, Lin's (2001 ) 'Position Generator' approach as a means to identify the volume, range and position of individuals' informal social contacts. The pattern of contacts suggests that access to social ties is strongly conditioned by mobility trajectory. We also show that civic engagement in formal associations is especially high among second-generation members of the service class. It is also shown that both class trajectory and possession of two types of social capital have significant impacts on trust. Among the social groups disadvantaged in terms of bridging social ties are not only those in lower classes but also women and members of minority ethnic groups.     

Vying for the Urban Poor: Charitable Organizations, Faith-Based Social Capital, and Racial Reconciliation in a Deep South City

In this article the mobilization of social capital is examined as it relates to the formation of collaborative partnerships among charitable organizations. It is argued that social capital, expressed through social ties and mutual trust, forms the foundation for such partnerships. Specifically, collaborative activities built upon religiously based social capital mobilized among charitable organizations are focused upon in this study. The extensive role of such social capital, combined with the historical context of the research setting, overshadows alternative forms of social capital that might be accessed for neighborhood revitalization, particularly social capital based on race. Consequently, this article's findings suggest that a color-blind approach to racial reconciliation has emerged among charitable organizations in conjunction with the hegemonic role of religiously based social capital in this local context. The unique nature of this outcome is significant because it emphasizes the impact of local context on the manner in which social capital is mobilized within localized networks.     

Social Contacts and the Economic Performance of Immigrants: A Panel Study of Immigrants in Germany

Using data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel, we examined the impact of social contacts on immigrant occupational status and income. In addition to general social contacts, we also analyzed the effects of bonding (i.e., co‐ethnic) and bridging (i.e., inter‐ethnic) ties on economic outcomes. Results show that general social contacts have a positive effect on the occupational status and, in particular, annual income of immigrants. We also find that bridging ties with Germans lead to higher occupational status, but not to increased income. These effects remain visible even when social contacts are measured (at least) 1 year prior to the economic outcomes, as well as when earlier investments in German human capital are considered. Finally, we show that co‐ethnic concentration in the region of residence weakly affects economic returns to German language proficiency and schooling.     

Neighbourhood social ties: how much do residential,physical and virtual mobility matter?

Following up on the prediction by classical sociological theorists that neighbours will become irrelevant as societies become more mobile, this research examines the strength of people's social ties with neighbours and the associations thereof with residential, physical and virtual mobility using longitudinal data for Germany. Unlike previous studies, the research considers the three forms of mobility simultaneously and contrasts its effects on social ties with neighbours to those with family. The results show that residential and physical mobility are negatively associated with social ties to neighbours and positively with ties to family. Virtual mobility does not weaken social ties with neighbours but ties with family. The positive association between mobility and social ties with family may not be strong enough to ascertain that people maintain as close social ties to others in the future as it does not outweigh the negative association with visiting neighbours.     

The Road to the Top: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Mobility in the Elite Labor Market of College Basketball Coaching

We examine how career paths, job performance, affiliation ties, and race combine to affect who secures top jobs in an elite labor market. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we show that examining these traits in conjunction, rather than in isolation, reveals novel insights into how one reaches the top of an occupation. Specifically, we document how factors coalesce in various ways to propel a coach to or from the top of NCAA Division I basketball. Results are particularly informative regarding race and social ties, as the importance of these conditions depend on signs of success. These findings illustrate the importance of context and perception in occupational advancement and suggest the analytic benefit of viewing job applicants as attribute clusters when examining advancement at the highest levels of an occupation.     

A Social Capital Basis for Environmental Concern: Evidence from Northern New England*

This study, based on a random‐digit‐dialing telephone survey of adults in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, uses ordinary least squares regression to examine a relatively neglected element in the sociological literature on environmental concern, namely, the influence of an individual's social capital on the formation of environmental attitudes. We argue that it is those individuals with a greater diversity of social connections who are most likely to be influenced by ecological perspectives grounded in conservation and environmental protection. Controlling for other theoretically relevant variables, we regress an index of environmental concern that gives special emphasis to environmental‐economic trade‐offs on our measures of relational and community social capital. While confirming much of the earlier work in this area, our model provides evidence that connections to other people play an important role in determining individual concern for the environment. Specifically, the number of respondents' “weak ties”—that is, not their closest relationships—and the average occupational status of respondents' social ties, in general, were both positively correlated with environmental concern. Additionally, one of our three measures of community social capital, the number of visits from friends over the past month, was statistically significant and negatively correlated with environmental concern.     

Ethnic ties: social capital and the question of mobilisability

This paper reflects on the concept of social capital through a discussion of the differential uses of ethnic ties for minority ethnic groups. It is argued that we should confine the notion of social capital to mobilisable social ties and networks. Resources such as those found in ethnic networks and bonds will only be social capital if they are mobilisable and usable in pursuing social advantage. This will only happen in the presence of a number of factors including the social valuation of the ethnic ties both within and outside the ethnic category, the social location of the actor (for example their gender) and the social context. The paper elaborates a concept of social capital which recognises the need to embed it within social hierarchies.     

Social capital and economic integration of migrants in urban China

Based on data from a 2005 survey conducted in Shanghai, China, this research examines the role of social capital in income inequality between rural migrants and urbanites. We find strong income return on social capital, in particular on social capital from strong ties. We also observe a great disparity in social capital possession between rural migrants and urban local residents. Although social capital from strong ties seems to be more important for rural migrants than for urbanites, local ties and high-status ties do not seem to benefit rural migrants. Hence, migrants not only suffer severe social capital deficits but also capital return deficits. Given the strong income returns on social capital and the substantial differences in access to and return on social capital between migrants and urban residents, social capital is consequently found to explain a large part of the income inequality between the two groups. Overall, our findings reveal macro-structural effects on the role of social capital in labor market stratification. In China, the lack of formal labor market mechanisms continues to create both a strong need for and opportunities for economic actions to be organized around informal channels via social relations. Yet, the long-standing institutional exclusion of migrants caused by the household registration system has resulted in pervasive social exclusion and discrimination which have substantially limited rural migrants’ accumulation and mobilization of social capital. Under these conditions, social capital reinforces the economic inequality between migrants and urban residents in China. Such empirical evidence adds to our understanding of the role of social capital in the economic integration of migrants and in shaping intergroup inequality in general.     

Class inequalities in access to social capital in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires

this paper analyzes social class inequalities in access to social capital. Quantitative methodology was used with data from the PI-Clases “Reproduction and social mobility in family trajectories and life courses” survey, conducted in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires in 2015 (n = 1065). Social capital measures where derived from the Position Generator (Lin, 2001) to identify the volume, status and range of the respondent’s networks. Results show that there are class inequalities in access to social capital in terms of the number of contacts, mean status of contacts, range of contact’s status and highest status of contacts. Also, the working class is more heterogeneous in its access to social capital, suggesting it has a sector that has network ties with people from the middle class and a sector with lower social capital. The observed trend is of gradational differences between class strata, with more marked inequalities between the service, intermediate and working class, but with fluid class boundaries without social segregation. Also, social capital is conditioned by intergenerational mobility trajectory, showing a trend of elasticity in the class composition of social relationships. The upwardly mobile can increase their access to social capital but don’t reach the same level as the intergenerationally stable, while the downwardly mobile retain some social capital from their class origins.     

How social ties transcend class boundaries? Network variability as tool for exploring occupational homophily

The research on social network analysis established the existence of class homophily, the tendency that personal networks are homogeneous in the class sense, as one of the governing patterns. This is explained via two main mechanisms: choice homophily and induced homophily. But the literature focused less on the question how can class boundaries be transgressed and what are the channels of class heterophily. This paper explores class heterophily on Croatian data acquired through position generator, which measures social capital (resources captured in social relations) by exploring the range of different occupational positions which are accessible to an individual (extensity index). Network variability is thereby taken as proxy for class composition of personal networks. The paper concludes that that political participation and sociability enable cross-class ties, since this offers an opportunity to meet and befriend people from all walks of life; and that people on the middle of the social hierarchy have the most diverse social networks. The hypotheses that social mobility can represent a vehicle for class heterophily; and that class heterophily is more pronounced in smaller settlements, where society networks show more overlap between social circles; were confirmed only partially, and require further investigation. These findings concern class boundaries related to the notion of choice homophily. As for induced homophily, the paper concludes that here too the boundaries are not watertight, as cultural omnivores have a wider range of class contacts.     

Can cultural consumption increase future earnings? Exploring the economic returns to cultural capital

Cultural consumption is often viewed as a form of embodied cultural capital which can be converted into economic rewards (e.g., earnings) because such practices increase the likelihood of moving into more advantaged social positions. However, quantitative evidence supporting this theory remains uncertain because it is often unable to rule out alternative explanations. Cultural consumption appears to influence hiring decisions in some elite firms, in both the US and the UK, but it is unclear whether these processes are applicable to other professional occupations and other labour market processes, such as promotions. We examine these processes using data from Understanding Society, an individual‐level panel survey conducted in the UK, allowing us to explore whether cultural consumption predicts future earnings, upward social mobility and promotions. People who consume a larger number of cultural activities are more likely to earn higher wages in the future, to be upwardly socially mobile, and to be promoted. Cultural consumption, then, can function as cultural capital in some labour market settings, potentially contributing to the reproduction of income inequality between generations.     

The Occupational Assimilation of Hispanic Immigrants in the U.S.: Evidence from Panel Data1

This study focuses on the occupational component of the labor market adjustment of Hispanic immigrants. The author asks whether Hispanic immigrants assimilate with natives and what factors influence occupational attainment. The findings suggest that years since migration narrow the socioeconomic gap between Hispanic immigrants, their U.S.‐born Hispanic counterparts, and non‐Hispanic whites. The level of human capital affects the rate of occupational mobility and determines whether convergence occurs in the groups’ socioeconomic occupational status. The occupational status of Hispanic immigrants with low human capital remains fairly stable and does not converge with that of non‐Hispanic whites. However, those with high human capital experience upward occupational mobility. In part, their occupational assimilation is driven by the acquisition of human capital among younger Hispanic immigrants.     

Inequalities in social capital and their longitudinal effects on the labour market entry

This study investigates socio-economic and ethnic inequalities in social capital and their effects on the process of the labour market entry. We use longitudinal data about the transition from school to work of lower- and middle educated young people in Belgium. Social capital is measured with three robust position generator measures. In line with previous studies, there are substantial socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in the access to social capital. Ethnic differences in social capital are, however, due to the socio-economic deprivation of ethnic minority groups in Belgium. Among the specific population of lower- and middle educated youth, knowing more people from the working class leads to a higher likelihood of entering the labour market versus continuing in education, whereas knowing more people from the higher service class results in a lower likelihood of entering the labour market. Especially the resources of strong ties such as relatives and friends are important for these decisions. In addition, once entered the labour market, social capital has an impact on the likelihood of getting a job. Lower- and middle educated labour market entrants who know more people from the working class are more likely to find work, whereas knowing people from the lower service class decreases the job chances. However, there is no evidence for social capital effects on the occupational status of the job among our population.     

Segregation in social networks based on acquaintanceship and trust

Using 2006 General Social Survey data, the authors compare levels of segregation by race and along other dimensions of potential social cleavage in the contemporary United States. Americans are not as isolated as the most extreme recent estimates suggest. However, hopes that "bridging" social capital is more common in broader acquaintanceship networks than in core networks are not supported. Instead, the entire acquaintanceship network is perceived by Americans to be about as segregated as the much smaller network of close ties. People do not always know the religiosity, political ideology, family behaviors, or socioeconomic status of their acquaintances, but perceived social divisions on these dimensions are high, sometimes rivaling racial segregation in acquaintanceship networks. The major challenge to social integration today comes from the tendency of many Americans to isolate themselves from others who differ on race, political ideology, level of religiosity, and other salient aspects of social identity.     

Role of Facebook use in predicting bridging and bonding social capital of Pakistani university students

ABSTRACT

The explanatory study aimed to examine the role of Facebook use (intensity of Facebook use, Facebook relationship maintenance behaviors, duration of use, and number of ties), motives of using Facebook (making new social ties, maintaining existing social ties, seeking and sharing information, self-expression, self-documentation, and recreation), and sociodemographic characteristics (age, education, gender, and monthly family income) in predicting the formation of bridging and bonding social capital among youth. Opting Putnam’s theory of social capital, a survey was conducted from eight randomly selected universities of Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 1,245 students, had an average age of 21, were participated in this study. Stepwise multiple linear regression technique was used to explain bridging and bonding social capital. The study found that motives of using Facebook had a major role in predicting bridging and bonding social capital of the students. The intensity of Facebook use and Facebook relationship maintenance behaviors were also positively correlated with bridging and bonding social capital. Except for the age for bonding social capital, no other sociodemographic variables had an influence on bridging and bonding social capital.     

The dynamics of Young Men's career aspirations

Career aspirations have assumed a central place in our understanding of the process of social mobility, yet aspirations themselves have been subject to remarkably little scrutiny. We conduct an empirical analysis of the dynamics of aspirations in a cohort using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men. Our results indicate that (1) occupational aspirations decline with age; (2) the overwhelming majority of young men have high aspirations at some point; (3) occupational aspirations, highly unstable among teenagers, become more stable with age; and (4) differences by race and social origin grow with age, reflecting growing race and social class differences in educational attainment.An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the American Sociologial Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, August 1989.