The aim of this presentation is to discuss the notion of social capital and to explore if and how educational success is contingent on the parents’ social capital or their positions in the social structure. Numerous studies show that children from the educated middle class are privileged in the educational system, unlike children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. The privileged group of middle-class students are embedded in social networks that facilitate or allow them to decode school/teaching practices and enable them to succeed in their educational careers. The children from low SES backgrounds are often embedded in social relationships that are disadvantageous or do not help them to decode school practices and they risk developing an anti-school culture (Osman, Carlhed Ydhag & Månsson, 2020; Abrahams, 2017; Carlhed Ydhag, 2017; Williams & Bryan, 2013; Richman, Bowen & Woolley, 2004). Despite this conventional understanding of the link between social capital and educational performance, there is an increasing proportion of young people from low SES backgrounds that is embarking on successful educational careers (Osman, Carlhed Ydhag & Månsson, 2020; Månsson, Carlhed Ydhag & Osman, 2021; Carlhed Ydhag, Månsson & Osman, 2021; Parson, 2019; Bécares & Priest, 2015). These students challenge the conventional wisdom that poverty, race/ethnicity, low social/cultural capital, and low educational performance are always linked. Thus, using the biographical data of students from different social backgrounds, this presentation employs the theoretical underpinnings of the notion of social capital to examine how we can understand the success of students from different social contexts.

The research project departed from Coleman’s (1990) and Bourdieu’s (1986) understanding of social capital concerning educational performance. To identify and analyse the resources and support that allowed these students to achieve academic success, the following concepts will be used to analyse the data: ideational support, material support and bridging support. Ideational support refers to the ability of parents and other influential figures to inculcate a pro-academic norm in these students. Material support denotes the unequal material resources that advantage or disadvantage the educational experiences of different categories of students. Examples of such support could be financial assistance for tutoring, home conditions such as the lack of space to study, attending extra-curricular activities and so on. Bridging support denotes the linkage between ideational and material support. Bridging refers to parental abilities to link their child to individuals with institutional actors serves as a medium for material and ideational support (Osman & Månsson, 2015; Prado, 2009; Stanton-Salazar, 1997).

The presentation is based on interviews with four students with different social backgrounds and educational trajectories. The participating students were interviewed three times throughout the project (in which we interviewed 52 students, see Carlhed Ydhag, Månsson & Osman, 2021): at the beginning of their second year in upper secondary school, at the end of their third year, and when they had graduated. This presentation analyses four biographical interviews with students from different social backgrounds on their experiences of a successful educational trajectory.

The empirical analysis of this study and our previous studies (Osman, Carlhed Ydhag & Månsson, 2020; Månsson, Carlhed Ydhag & Osman, 2021; Carlhed Ydhag, Månsson & Osman, 2021) show that the differences in the composition and nature of the social networks seem to be critical for educational success for students from different social contexts. Students from families with high social capital who are embedded in stable social structures are sure to embark on a successful educational career. Further, the results indicate that the dynamics of the social network are important, particularly the continuity and stability of the social resources and social spaces. In addition, it is critical to point out that the quality and density in the social network matters for successful educational trajectories. However, the educational success of students from families with low SES seems to show that the parents’ unconditional emotional support, peer support and teacher support are critical factors. We have also noted qualitative differences in the students’ academic ambitions in relation to the parents’ social capital and position in the social structure. In addition, results of the study seem to contradict the individual-centred narrative of educational success.

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