Resource: Cultivating Connections: The Current State of Social Capital in College and Career Pathways
Relationships matter. Growing a student’s network can expand their access to information, tap them into systems of influence, strengthen their own identity and sense of self, and provide them with informal signals and credentials they can add to their formal qualifications and experiences. The process by which we embed these practices within our educational system is known as social capital development.
When social capital development is embedded within education-to-workforce pathways, students are better positioned to turn their academic and technical skills into good jobs, more training, and better opportunities. Unfortunately, social capital has not been a major priority within our educational system despite growing recognition that it is a critical ingredient within pathways for opening doors to good jobs.
Increasingly, organizations across the country are working to embed social capital development into educational experiences, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and opportunities to strengthen and expand relationships and networks that can help them achieve their postsecondary and career goals. To better understand the current state of social capital development efforts happening in the field, Education Strategy Group conducted a landscape scan to provide deeper insight into how national, state, and local-level education organizations are defining, and the extent to which they are incorporating, social capital development into their day-to-day work with students.
