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Comparing Educational Trajectories of Two Chinese Students and One Latina Student, A Social Capital Approach
- The High School Journal
- The University of North Carolina Press
- Volume 92, Number 2, December 2008-January 2009
- pp. 14-27
- 10.1353/hsj.0.0015
- Article
- Additional Information
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This qualitative study compares and analyzes the social network experiences of two working-class Chinese students from immigrant families (Sally, Alex) to those of one working-class Latina student from an immigrant family (Elizabeth). Theory holds that these students would have difficulty obtaining educational resources and support (i.e., social capital) to hurdle educational discrimination (Biddle, 2001). They would also have difficulty devising post-secondary education plans. As is argued throughout, it is Chinese students' presence in the more resource-full networks and organizations that facilitate their acquisition of social capital. This bears on their greater educational trajectories. The Latina student's experience contrasts theirs. Her limited social capital complicates her ability to hurdle educational discrimination. This reduces her high school opportunities and her post-secondary educational opportunities.