Adult Social Capital and Track Placement of Ethnic Groups in Germany

  • For both, German and non-German students, parents’ family ties fail to affect track placement.
  • Parents’ community ties have mixed effects. Among Germans, parental involvement in sports affects children’s tracking positively. Among non-Germans, parental socializing with peers affects track placement negatively, while parental involvement in religion-based community groups and interethnic ties with Germans improve track placement chances.
  • Being non-German decreases the odds of attending higher tracks by 55%, net of students’ family income, household size, gender, and age.
  • Extrafamilial and organizationally based ties affect social reproduction.
  • Parental socializing has a negative effect only on the odds of attending higher tracks among non-Germans, and the group difference is statistically significant.
  • findings provide no support for the argument that family-based social capital affects track placement for either Germans or non-Germans.
  • Group-specific ties affect track placement, especially those tied to community-based organizations.- Gatekeepers for immigrants are likely to be found in two areas of social life: among leaders in their own ethnoreligious community and among Germans who can help immigrant parents navigate the educational system.
  • Parental acculturation achieved via ties to gatekeepers shapes children’s track placement. The strongest network effects exist among individuals loosely knit within and across organizations.