Mitchell Centre Seminar Series. Zsofia Boda University of Essex. Upward Network Influence and Intergenerational Integration in German Schools
| Dates: | 11 March 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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Social scientists consistently document ethnic segregation in social networks, demonstrating its association with inequalities in social capital, or the ability to activate relationships to facilitate actions and achieve desired ends. Existing research finds ethnic social network segregation among pupils in schools, and links this to parental characteristics. Less studied is the influence of pupil friendships on the social capital of their parents. This paper proposes a theory of upward network influence and tests this with longitudinal information on the in-class friendships of secondary school pupils and their parents in Germany. We use longitudinal, multilevel social network methods to test a) whether pupil friendships lead to ties for their parents, b) whether this upward network influence applies to both inter- and same-ethnic friendships, and c) whether upward network influence is sufficient to meaningfully increase ethnic integration for parents. While we find affirmative support for the first two questions, we also demonstrate how underlying ethnic segregation of pupil friendships within classrooms, as well as the generally low levels of parental ties overall at the secondary school level, dampens the potentially integrative influence of within-school friendships. Whether upward network influence operates in other social settings is an important area for future research.
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