The ‘Strong Tie’ Between Social Networks, Job Attainment, and Upward Mobility.

Using ethnographic and social science survey methods, the formation of social networks among the socio-economically disadvantaged students of the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) at Barnard College were examined in an effort to determine the effects of the types of networks formed by these students on post-graduate job attainment and their opportunity to achieve upward mobility through their network usage. It was found that the social networks of these students tend to be HEOP focused, but that the class ?disadvantage? of these networks do not negatively affect their employment prospects as these students tend to use their more ?advantaged? weak ties in the job search. It was further found that the type of social tie used by the HEOP student was dependent on the monetary nature of the objective that was to be achieved through network usage. Among the sample, strong ties were used to obtain non-monetarily beneficial objectives, like housing, while weak ties were used to obtain monetarily beneficial objectives, such as employment. It is argued that there is a strong correlation between this differential network usage, the SES of the user, and the objective of network usage. It is therefore suggested that ?weak ties? theory be ?commodified? so as to reflect the influence of class on network usage. This paper concludes by arguing that due to degree inflation and the utility of network usage on job attainment, programs such as HEOP are integral to providing opportunities for the upward mobility of ?high risk? students in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]