Mitchell Centre Seminar Series. Yannan He University of Manchester. Effects of Classroom Parental Networks on Students’ Academic Performance.
| Dates: | 29 April 2026 |
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| Times: | 16:00 - 17:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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Abstract: As suggested by social capital theories, parents could obtain resources from network ties that benefit themselves and their children. Parental networks are of particular importance. Coleman’s influential conjecture of intergenerational closure suggests that students whose parents know parents of their peers have better academic performance, although empirical evidence remains inconclusive. In addition, other relation-based factors in terms of tie characteristics, alter attributes and nodal network positions can influence parents’ access to resources and opportunities, which in turn shape students’ academic performance. However, these aspects are relatively understudied. Using data from the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) for Germany and the Netherlands, this study applies network autocorrelation models to test the combined effects of various classroom parental network-based factors on students’ math grades. The results show that students’ math grades are correlated among those with connected parents in both Germany and the Netherlands. There is some support for a positive association between parents’ betweenness centrality and students’ math grades. None of the other hypothesised effects are supported. Based on the findings, I discuss the differential effects of social capital and emphasise the need for further investigation of these relation-based factors in extended parental networks outside the classroom.
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