Social capital plays a key role in college students’ academic and career success. Using a random assignment design, the current study evaluated the impacts of a one-credit college course designed to increase student help-seeking and social capital within a racially diverse sample of college students. Compared to the control group, students in the treatment group reported improved attitudes towards help-seeking, increased help-seeking behavior, and higher levels of social capital and mentoring support. Academic benefits were mixed, however, with an increase in academic self-efficacy, no impact on college GPA, and a decrease in academic cognitive engagement. Additionally, differential impacts based on year in college, race, and first-generation college student status were observed. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
AguinisH.BeatyJ. C.BoikR. J.PierceC. A. (2005). Effect size and power in assessing moderating effects of categorical variables using multiple regression: A 30-year review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 94.
3.
AlbrightJ.HurdN.HussainS. (2017). Applying a social justice lens to youth mentoring: A review of the literature and recommendations for practice. American Journal of Community Psychology, 59, 363–381. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12143
4.
AlexitchL. R. (2002). The role of help-seeking attitudes and tendencies in students’ preferences for academic advising. Journal of College Student Development, 43(1), 5–19.
5.
AllardF.ParasharS. (2013). Comparing undergraduate satisfaction with faculty and professional advisers: A multi-method approach. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 15. https://doi.org/10.26209/mj1561283
6.
AndersonA. J.SánchezB.McMahonS. D. (2019). Natural mentoring, academic motivation, and values toward education among Latinx adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 63(1-2), 99–109. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12319
7.
AndradeM. S. (2009). The value of a first-year seminar: International students’ insights in retrospect. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 10(4), 483–506. https://doi.org/10.2190/CS.10.4.e
8.
BaierS. T.MarkmanB. S.Pernice-DucaF. M. (2016). Intent to persist in college freshmen: The role of self-efficacy and mentorship. Journal of College Student Development, 57(5), 614–619. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2016.0056
9.
BalcazarF. E.Suarez-BalcazarY.AdamesS. B.KeysC. B.Garcia-RamirezM.PalomaV. (2012). A case study of liberation among Latino immigrant families with children with disabilities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 49, 283–293.
BourdieuP. (1986). The forms of capital. In RichardsonJ. G. (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of higher education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood Press.
12.
ChangJ.WangS.-w.ManciniC.McGrath-MahrerB.Orama de JesusS. (2020). The complexity of cultural mismatch in higher education: Norms affecting first-generation college students’ coping and help-seeking behaviors. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(3), 280–294.
ChoiN.FuquaD. R.GriffinB. W. (2001). Exploratory analysis of the structure of scores from the multidimensional scales of perceived self-efficacy. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61(3), 475–489.
15.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.
16.
ColemanJ. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S121.
17.
CollierP. J.MorganD. L. (2008). “Is that paper really due today?” Differences in first-generation and traditional college students’ understandings of faculty expectations. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 55(4), 425–446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-007-9065-5
18.
CrispG. (2009). Conceptualization and initial validation of the college student mentoring scale (CSMS). Journal of College Student Development, 50(2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0061
19.
CrispG.CruzI. (2009). Mentoring college students: A critical review of the literature between 1990 and 2007. Research in Higher Education, 50(6), 525–545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9130-2
20.
DalyA. J.LiouY. H.Der-MartirosianC. (2020). A capital idea: Exploring the relationship between human and social capital and student achievement in schools. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 6(1), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-10-2020-0082
21.
DawsonJ. F. (2014). Moderation in management research: What, why, when, and how. Journal of Business and Psychology, 29(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-013-9308-7
DuBoisD. L.KarcherM. J. (2014). Youth mentoring in contemporary perspective. In DuBoisD. L.KarcherM. J. (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (pp. 3–13). SAGE Publications.
24.
EllisonN.SteinfieldC.LampeC. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143−1168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x
25.
EvansR.StansberryD.BullingtonK. E.BurnettD. (2020). First in college: A qualitative exploration of experiences of first-generation students. Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges, 23(1), Article 5.
26.
GallupInc.PurdueUniversity. (2014). Great jobs great lives: The 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report. Gallup, Inc.
27.
GallupInc.PurdueUniversity. (2015). Great jobs great lives: The relationship between student debt, experiences and perceptions of college worth. Gallup, Inc.
GibsonS. M.BrinkleyK.GriggsL. A.JamesB. N.SmithM.SchwitzerlettM.WallerL. M.HargravesR. H. (2021, June). Implementing a hybrid summer transition program. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 6, p. 209). Frontiers.
30.
GitellR. J.VidalA. C. (1998). Community organizing: Building social capital as a development strategy. SAGE Publications.
31.
GoreP. A.LeuwerkeW. C.TurleyS. E. (2005). A psychometric study of the college self-efficacy inventory. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 7(3), 227–244.
32.
GranovetterM. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360–1380.
HableyW. R.McClanahanR. (2004). What works in student retention? All survey colleges. ACT.
35.
HaglerM. A.ChristensenK. M.RhodesJ. E. (2021). A longitudinal investigation of first-generation college students’ mentoring relationships during their transition to higher education. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. doi:10.1177/15210251211022741
36.
HarackiewiczJ. M.CanningE. A.TibbettsY.GiffenC. J.BlairS. S.RouseD. I.HydeJ. S. (2014). Closing the social class achievement gap for first-generation students in undergraduate biology. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(2), 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034679
37.
HurdN. M.TanJ. S.LoebE. L. (2016). Natural mentoring relationships and the adjustment to college among underrepresented students. American Journal of Community Psychology, 57(3–4), 330–341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12059
38.
HynesM. (2015). Don’t quit on me: What young people who left school say about the power of relationships. A follow-up report to “Don’t call them dropouts.” Full report. Center for Promise. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED563822.pdf
39.
IBM Corp. (2017). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0. Author.
40.
JackA. A. (2016). (No) Harm in asking: Class, acquired cultural capital, and academic engagement at an elite university. Sociology of Education, 89(1), 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038040715614913
41.
JenkinsS. R.BelangerA.ConnallyM. L.BoalsA.DurónK. M. (2013). First-generation undergraduate students’ social support, depression, and life satisfaction. Journal of College Counseling, 16(2), 129–142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2013.00032.x
42.
KarabenickS. A. (2004). Perceived achievement goal structure and college student help seeking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 569–581.
43.
KarabenickS. A.KnappJ. R. (1988). Help seeking and the need for academic assistance. Journal of educational psychology, 80(3), 406–408. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.3.406
44.
KniessD.BuschlenE.ChangT. (2020). Men of color transitioning to college: The case for community assets, community programs, and social capital. Journal of At-Risk Issues, 23(1), 36–45.
45.
LareauA.HorvatE. M. (1999). Moments of social inclusion and exclusion: Race, class and cultural capital in family-school relationships. Sociology of Education, 72(1), 37–53.
46.
LinN. (1999). Building a network theory of social capital. Connections, 22(1), 28–51.
47.
LinN. (2000). Inequality in social capital. Contemporary Sociology, 29(6), 785–795.
48.
LittleR. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1988.10478722
49.
MilkmanK. L.AkinolaM.ChughD. (2015). What happens before? A field experiment exploring how pay and representation differentially shape bias on the pathway into organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 1678–1712.
50.
MoschettiR. V.HudleyC. (2014). Social capital and academic motivation among first-generation community college students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 39(3), 235–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2013.819304
NicholsL.IslasA. (2016). Pushing and pulling emerging adults through college: College generational status and the influence of parents and others in the first year. Journal of Adolescent Research, 31(1), 59–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558415586255
56.
NollanK. A.WolfM.AnsellD.BumsJ.BarrL.CopelandW.PaddockG. (2000). Ready or not: Assessing youths’ preparedness for independent living. Child Welfare, 79(2), 159–176.
57.
Parks-YancyR. (2006). The effects of social group membership and social capital resources on careers. Journal of Black Studies, 36(4), 515–545.
58.
ParnesM.KanchewaS.MarksA.SchwartzS. E. O. (2020). Closing the college achievement gap: Impacts and processes of a help-seeking intervention. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 67, 101121.
59.
ParnesM.Suárez-OrozcoC.Osei-TwumasiO.SchwartzS. E. O. (2020). Academic outcomes among diverse community college students: What is the role of instructor relationships?Community College Review, 48(3), 277–302.
60.
PutnamR. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster.
61.
RajkumarS.-J.BojinovI.BrynjolfssonE.AralS. (2022). A causal test of the strength of weak ties. Science, 377(6612), 1304–1310.
62.
RaposaE. B.EricksonL.HaglerM.RhodesJ. (2018). How economic disadvantage affects the availability and nature of mentoring relationships during the transition to adulthood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61(1–2), 191–203. https://doi-org.ezproxysuf.flo.org/10.1002/ajcp.12228
63.
RaposaE. B.HaglerM.LiuD.RhodesJ. E. (2021). Predictors of close faculty− student relationships and mentorship in higher education: findings from the Gallup−Purdue Index. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 1483(1), 36–49.
64.
RaposaE.HurdN. (2021). Understanding networks of natural mentoring support among underrepresented college students. Applied Developmental Science, 25(1), 38–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1526635
65.
RhodesJ. E. (2020). Older and wiser. Harvard University Press.
66.
Rios-AguilarC.Deil-AmenR. (2012). Beyond getting in and fitting in: An examination of social networks and professionally relevant social capital among Latina/o university students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 11(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711435555
67.
Rios-AguilarC.KiyamaJ. M.GravittM.MollL. C. (2011). Funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? A capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. Theory and Research in Education, 9(2), 163–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878511409776
68.
SánchezB.EsparzaP.BerardiL.PryceJ. (2011). Mentoring and the broader village in the transition from high school. Youth & Society, 43(1), 225–252. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X10363774
69.
Sánchez-ConnallyP. (2018). Latinx first-generation college students: Negotiating race, gender, class, and belonging. Race, Gender & Class, 25(3/4), 234–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000306
70.
SandvikJ.SaoumaR.SeegertN.StantonC. T. (2021). Treatment and selection effects of formal workplace mentorship programs (NBER Working Paper No. w29148). National Bureau of Economic Research.
71.
SchippersM.ScheepersA.PetersonJ. (2015). A scalable goal-setting intervention closes both the gender and ethnic minority achievement gap. Palgrave Communications, 1, 15014. https://doi.org/10.1057/palcomms.2015.14
72.
SchwartzS. E. O.KanchewaS. S.RhodesJ. E.CutlerE.CunninghamJ. (2016). “I didn't know you could just ask”: Empowering underrepresented college-bound students to recruit academic and career mentors. Children and Youth Services Review, 64, 51–59.
73.
SchwartzS. E. O.KanchewaS.RhodesJ.GowdyG.StarkA.HornJ. P.ParnesM.SpencerR. (2018). “I’m having a little struggle with this, can you help me out?”: Examining impacts and processes of a social capital intervention for first-generation college students. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61, 166–178.
74.
SchwartzS. E.RhodesJ. E.SpencerR.GrossmanJ. B. (2013). Youth initiated mentoring: Investigating a new approach to working with vulnerable adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 52(1), 155–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9585-3
75.
SennS. (2006). Change from baseline and analysis of covariance revisited. Statistics in Medicine, 25, 4334–4344. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.2682
SolbergV. S.O’BrienK.VillarealP.KennelR.DavisB. (1993). Self-efficacy and Hispanic college students: Validation of the College Self-Efficacy Instrument. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 15(1), 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863930151004
SoriaK. M.StebletonM. J. (2013). Social capital, academic engagement, and sense of belonging among working-class college students. College Student Affairs Journal, 31(2), 139–153.
80.
Stanton-SalazarR. D. (2011). A social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. Youth & Society, 43, 1066–1109. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0044118X10382877
81.
Stanton-SalazarR. D.ChavezL. F.TaiR. H. (2001). The help-seeking orientations of Latino and non-Latino urban high school students: A critical sociological investigation. Social Psychology of Education, 5, 49–82.
82.
StephensN. M.FrybergS. A.MarkusH. R.JohnsonC. S.CovarrubiasR. (2012a). Unseen disadvantage: How American universities’ focus on independence undermines the academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1178–1197. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027143
83.
StephensN. M.TownsendS. S.MarkusH. R.PhillipsL. T. (2012b). A cultural mismatch: Independent cultural norms produce greater increases in cortisol and more negative emotions among first-generation college students. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(6), 1389–1393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.07.008
84.
Suárez-OrozcoC.PimentelA.MartinM. (2009). The significance of relationships: Academic engagement and achievement among newcomer immigrant youth. Teachers College Record, 111(3), 712–749. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F016146810911100308
85.
SuhY. (2015). The performance of maximum likelihood and weighted least square mean and variance adjusted estimators in testing differential item functioning with nonnormal trait distributions. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 4, 568–580. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.937669
86.
SuyemotoK. L.ErismanS. M.HolowkaD. W.FuchsC.Barrett-ModelH.NgF.LiuC.ChandlerD.HazeltineK.RoemerL. (2016). UMass Boston Comprehensive Demographic Questionnaire, Revised. The Behavior Therapist, 39, 83–91.
87.
TintoV. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
88.
VargaS. M.ZaffJ. F. (2018). Webs of support: An integrative framework of relationships, social networks, and social support for positive youth development. Adolescent Research Review, 3, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-017-0076-x
WallaceD.AbelR.Ropers-HuilmanB. R. (2000). Clearing a path for success: Deconstructing borders through undergraduate mentoring. Review of Higher Education, 24(1), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2000.0026
91.
WhitleyS.BensonG.WesawA. (2018). First-generation student success: A landscape analysis of programs and services at four-year institutions. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, Inc.
92.
WoodM. (2005). Bootstrapped confidence intervals as an approach to statistical inference. Organizational Research Methods, 8(4), 454–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428105280059
93.
YossoT. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity & Education8 (1), 69–91.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
