“Accessibility, Usability & Embeddedness” Social Capital and the Status Attainment Process for Men in the Netherlands

Abstract

This study addresses the status attainment process and the associated mobility between generations for men in the Dutch society in 2000. It does so by integrating the social resources theory (Lai et al., 1998) in the classic status attainment model by Blau and Duncan (1967). We try to answer the research question; How does social capital contribute in the transit of status from father to son in the Netherlands? To answer this research question, we use the Survey on the Social Networks of the Dutch. Most important results are, accessed prestige as social capital is inherited and has a significant effect on one’s status. However, also when including social capital in the status attainment model, education is the most important predictor for one’s status. Furthermore, the higher the status of the person who helps the ego getting a job, the higher the status of the attained job. Contradictory to the theory,we found no evidence of tie strength in the status attainment process.