Social capital at school Investigating the Differences in Access to and Effects of Friends’ Social Capital on Grades between Pupils of Dutch Origin and Immigrant Pupils

Abstract

This study deals with the differences between pupils of Dutch origin and second generation immigrants in both the access to and effects of social capital on grades. It is examined whether friends’ social capital mediates the effect of immigrant status on grades and whether immigrant status moderates the effect of friends’ social capital on grades. Using two waves of the “Networks and actor attributes in early adolescence [2003/2004]” data set, there can be concluded that immigrant pupils receive lower grades than pupils of Dutch origin. However, no evidence can be found that this is due to differences in access to social capital. Immigrant pupils were found to benefit more from some resources of friends’ social capital than pupils of Dutch origin. However, for other resources the effect was found to be more negative for immigrant pupils than for pupils of Dutch origin.