Developing the Social Networks and Networking Behavior of

First-Generation College Students: 3 Stories

RD Stanton-Salazar, Ph.D.
Version September 19, 2016
Introduction to Narratives
Viewing students academic success and the attainment of their life goals using a social
capital-social network framework requires people to reconstruct their view of how
achievement and success happens in society. Every individual, whether college student,
high school principal, corporate CEO, or labor organizer, is situated in two kinds of
networks: their own personal network, and a network of people connected to each other and
who share resources and reciprocal support. It is through such networks that individuals gain
the help, resources, and support they need to achieve their goals, and to overcome every
obstacle imaginable. Social class background, race, ethnicity, and gender are fundamental to
the development of an individuals network, and the resources they have access to. People
are able to empower themselves and others by developing their personal network and by
actively participating in distinctive networks across organizational settings and cultural
worlds.

For first-generation college students, student empowerment, as defined using a social

capital framework, requires training these young people how to engage in effective
networking, meaning developing and sustaining relationships with a whole constellation of
people on campusdoing so simultaneously: these include professors, adults directing
various TRIO programs, campus administrators, office staff, leaders of campus
organizations, and students from different class backgrounds, racial-ethnic groups, and
academic fields. While the developing of relationships with some people may come easy,
initiating relationships with other people, and seeking support from them, may be

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psychologically and emotionally challenging. Here class, racial, and gender differences
come to play.
Any programmatic effort to train first-generation students to effectively network must be
integrated with existing student empowerment programs on campus: e.g., Summer Bridge,
EOP, and any existing campus-based TRIO programs. Student support services on campus
are vital in enabling students to successfully meet a myriad of challenges they will confront
as college students; summer programs prepare students to succeed academically as they
move through their first year. Network-development programs train students to construct
their own network, and to meaningfully participate in diverse networks on campus, thus,
giving them a form of power that will last their entire life.
Three Narratives
Below are three brief narratives that illustrate how social networks enabled an individuals
success in the academic world: The first tells the story of Linda, and how she learned about
networking in the Summer Launch program. The second narrative tells of a Chicana
student, Lilia, who was admitted into a Ph.D. program in an Ethnic Studies Department, and
how a Chicana professor mentored her and her graduate student colleagues. The third
narrative tells the story of how a junior faculty member named Robert was able to get his
manuscript published in a prestigious academic journal.
Narrative #1: Linda
Linda was both excited and nervous about beginning her first year at Cal State Santa Monica.
Of the six children in her family, she was to be the first to attend a four-year university.
Delano was home, in the San Joaquin Valley; she knew she was about to spend large
amounts of time away from her family. Linda arrived at CSUSM in June, and was scheduled
to begin a 10-week program called Summer Launch, a program designed for first-generation
students about to begin their first year at the university.
Two weeks into the program, Linda felt that she had to absorb a great deal of information in
order to be ready for classes in late August. One evening she called her older sister Susie, and
told her that she was very excited about being a part of very special community; she had
made many friends in Summer Launch who were also first-generation college students. Most
of the students, she told her sister, were from Mexican immigrant families, from different
parts of California. She and her peers were working with a group of people who were
teaching them so much about university life and its challengesshe shared how she spent
her days with college graduates, professors, graduate students, directors of different
programs on campus, and all the people who made Summer Launch happen.
Over the ten weeks of the program, Linda was learning how to be a successful college
student; it was as if they was learning a new language and preparing to spend a year in a
foreign country. Linda also emphasized that she was developing a really strong support
system, and that the concepts of social network, social capital, and social support system

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was going to be so important for her during her first year at CSUSM. Susie, asked her a lot
of questions, especially about what was meant by the term, social capital.
She told Susie, Well, its like Im not the same Linda anymore; I mean Im learning that
actually its impossible for me to alone, you know, one person, Linda, doing my best to be
successful here at this university. Its kind of hard to explain Susie; everyone, you, me,
mam, my friends in Summer Launch, each of us lives their life in a social network. Its like
Im in the middle of my own spider web; where I go, I go with my spider web. Susie
responded, This sounds kind of weird, sister; I mean spider web, spiders. You know I
dont like spiders. No, no Susie; Summer Launch is helping me weave my own social web;
Im developing relationships with all kinds of people, people that are going to be there for
me. I mean, like everyday, wherever I go, I have to pay attention to my spider web, that is,
my social network. Like I have to get to know professors, I have to know whos who at EOP,
Summer Launch; I have to make friends with all kinds of students; when I need help, I have
to go to someone who knows me, cares about me. I have to think about lots of people, all the
timejust like you and me in Delano, and our large familia.
Look Susie, Ill never know everything I need to know about college life, and I dont have to;
when I need information or help, theyll be people I know I can go topeople in my support
network. When I need advice about the requirements for my major, Ill go to someone I
know, and who knows me. If I am having difficult with my term paper, I go see my
professor; no big deal, because, well, Ill have already gone to her office three times. Shell
know me. If I cant afford all of my books one semester, Id go to someone I know who can
help me. If my dorm-date becomes really depressed, I know exactly who to go to, to get her
the help she needs, fast. You see, the best situation you can be in when you need help is
when youve already developed a strong support network.
Susie jumped in, Well, thats like here in Delano, when mam needs help, she knows so
many people; she has so many friends, the people at church, and then all the familia. Linda
responds, Yeah, but mam spent years developing those relationships; then all those people
in our familia who have come to her for help. So many people owe her big time. Mam
has a really big spider web in Delano, Linda underscored. There you go again with spider
web, said Susie. But sister, I dont have years to develop my spider web; I have to start
now; in September, I have to get a lot of people to know me, to know Linda. I have to join a
campus organization; show up when someone important comes to speak on campus. Then I
have to pay attention to those people close to me who might need my help; I have to be there
for themyou know, like mam is there for so many people. In Summer Launch, they call
this networking, forming real relationships with all kinds of people, relationships where
theres trust, you know, confianza, and also helping people when they might need me.
Susie retorted, Gosh, with all that networking, when are you going to have time to study,
read all those books and write those papers? Linda sighed, Look, when a fly gets stuck in
a spider web, how does the spider get to the fly? Only one way, she has to use her web; no
web, no dinner. Susie laughs, Oh youre funny sister. Linda continues, Look, I know
Im going to have to work really hard this year, studying for exams, writing papers. But the
stronger my network, and the more support Ill get, and the less Ill feel alone. I dont want to
survive sister, I want to thrive. And when I study, I can study with other students that Ive
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gotten to know and trust. And when I want to be by myself, I can do that; but even then, Ill
have my network. And if some fly gets stuck in my spider web, Ill say, Thats the best
thing thats happened to me today! Susie cries, Uggh!, there you go again with that spider
stuff.
Narrative #2: Lilia
After finishing her undergraduate and Masters degrees in Sociology at CSU Los Angeles,
Lilia applied and was accepted into the Ph.D. Program in Ethnic Studies UC Santa Rosa.
Lilia was the first in her family to graduate from college, and had never lived outside of Los
Angeles. The Ethnic Studies Department at UCSR was well regarded, and upon visiting the
campus for the first time, a group of Latina/o students welcomed her. They warned her,
however, that the campus was not the most racially friendly environment, and that
geographically, it was considerably isolated and adjacent to highly-wealthy, raciallyhomogeneous city. The Latina/o graduate students reassured her that once she settled, they
would introduce her to prominent members of the undergraduate and graduate Latino
community on campus. They also promised to introduce her to faculty of color in the social
sciences, and to alert her about those faculty members in various departments who had a long
history of being highly supportive of Latina/o graduate students, and of all first-generation
college students.
Midway through her first year, Lilia had taken a course with Professor Yarely Ibarra, a wellestablished member of the Ethnic Studies Department. Professor Ibarra was highly regarded
by Latina/o graduates in Ethnic Studies, Sociology, and Feminist Studies. By the end of the
year, Lilia formally asked Professor Ibarra to be her advisor. By then, Lilia had become well
informed that Professor Ibarra had a history of mentoring Latina/o graduate students. During
the next two years, Professor Ibarra worked closely with a half-dozen doctoral students,
helping them define and develop their research agenda. She also had a practice of meeting
with graduate students as a group every several months.
During these meetings, Professor Ibarra spoke about the necessity of building their
professional network with both scholars and other doctoral students throughout the country.
She spoke about how these relationships would be critical to their career advancement, five,
ten, and even fifteen years down the road. Besides career advancement, she spoke seriously
about the importance of maintaining sound mental health, and that their academic peers
would be vital to this necessity. She emphasized the value of peer relationships with other
doctoral students throughout the country, instructing them to cast their net wide, to the areas
of Ethnic Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Black Studies, Sociology, and other disciplines and
fields. Most immediately, such relationships would come together as social support
networks, where students would find encouragement and support as they worked through
their dissertations, peers who would be there to help celebrate milestones as well as to
provide emotional and psychological support when they encountered obstacles or
experienced fits of depression. Professor Ibarra gave examples from her own career, pointing
out how she built lasting friendships with peers at national and regional conferences, through
email, campus visitations, and most recently, Facebook. She gave examples of scholars

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throughout the country who became good colleagues and friends, and how they helped her at
different points in her career.
Across regular meetings, Professor Ibarra spoke to students about how to write effective
emails to faculty on campus and to key scholars across the country, how to approach them at
conferences, how to establish lasting rapport with them, and how to go about asking for help.
She also talked about the value of building connections with faculty who were starting their
professorial careers; from them they could receive invaluable advice about how to launch
their career, including the dos and donts.
Professor Ibarra emphasized how the quality of their research and writing are of first and
foremost importance to their careers, but she also made clear that the quality of their
research, success in publishing their work, and career advancement were not just dependent
on their academic efforts and intellectual talent, but also on a myriad of resources and forms
of support they would need along the way: funding for research, editorial help with writing,
rigorous reviews of manuscripts by trusted and supportive scholars, behind-the-scenes help
with getting a manuscript published in a particular journal, invitations to present at
conferences, funding for travel, co-authorships with prominent faculty, recommendations and
advocacy from key scholars in the field, behind-the-scenes information about job
opportunities and opportunities for career advancement.
Narrative #3: Robert
Robert and Martha became friends during their undergraduate years at UC Berkeley. After
college, Robert became a high school teacher in Houston, Texas, and Martha became a social
worker in Los Angeles. Their friendship continued over the next five years, during which
time both decided to pursue a doctoral degree in Education at UCSR. Robert and Martha
provided mutual support as they both worked toward their doctoral degree. Martha
eventually gained a tenure-track appointment at the University of Chicago, followed by
Roberts appointment at UT Austin.
Several years later, Robert completed a draft of a paper which introduced a theoretical
framework he hoped would be perceived as an important contribution to the field of Urban
Education; however, he also felt that were he to submit his manuscript to one of the premier
journals in his field, reviewers might consider his work still underdeveloped and overly
critical of the field. Robert communicated his concerns to Martha just weeks before they
were to meet at a national conference. Martha asked Robert to send her the manuscript.
After having read the manuscript, Martha informed Robert that she wanted to share his
manuscript with Samuel, a senior and prominent scholar who visiting for the year at her
School; she explained that they had become close colleagues and that he was serving as an
informal mentor. Martha told Robert that the three of them would meet at the conference and
discuss the current merits of the manuscript. At the conference meeting, Samuel informed
Robert that he was impressed by his work, and that he wanted to give the manuscript to
Elizabeth, a close colleague and friend, and a member of the editorial board of their fields
most prominent journal. Robert was surprised, and grateful to both his close friend Martha,
and to Samuel.
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A few weeks later, Samuel spoke to Elizabeth; both agreed that the manuscript had
considerable merit and that Roberts criticism of the research reviewed was justified. Both
felt that the blind reviews would be good enough for serious consideration by the journals
chief editor. Elizabeth warned, however, that there would likely be resistance to the
manuscript among several members of the editorial board who had a history of voting against
manuscripts that employed Marxist theory to address issues of race and inequality in the
educational system. Samuel asked if Elizabeth whether she felt comfortable advocating for
the manuscript. Elizabeth said yes, and promised to quietly contact other members of the
board and to advocate for the acceptance of the manuscript. Eventually, not only was the
manuscript accepted for publication, but also placed as the lead article in the quarterly
journal. Over the next 10 years, Roberts article was one of the most cited works in the field.
Resources & Empowering Forms of Social Support

I. Material Aid (e.g., a friend loans you $300.00 or more to buy something you need in one
of your classes):
II. Academic Support
(1) Completing Academic Assignment (Funds of Knowledge, S-S, 1997)
(2) Academic Problem
(3) A Friend Experiencing an Academic Problem
(4) Preparing for first year at the university
III. Advice on Important Decisions regarding their Personal Life
IV. Emotional Support
V. Psychological Services Depression (not the same as emotional support)
(1) Student seeks help with depressive episode
(2) Student seeking help with a close friend or relative who is suffering from
depression.
VI. Personal Services (e.g., Time & Energy to Help You learn how to operate a new
application on your computer or cell phone)
VII. Navigating the System: Funds of Knowledge from an institutional agent
(Stanton-Salazar, 1997)
(1) Navigating the College Environment (who possessed this kind of
information/knowledge, and who would give it as a form of support)
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(2) Navigating a racialized and unfriendly College Environment:

VIII. Social Services: Getting Help for a Friend:
IX. Advocacy (Institutional Agent relies on his/her positional resource, the power, status,
authority and resources that come of their position at the university)
(1) Seeking Advocacy for Oneself (from an institutional agent) (regarding a problem
that could be addressed by someonewith some status and authority-- at the university
or in the community)
X. Integrative Support (Overlaps with Recruiting / Recruiter) (Institutional Agent gets
you integrated into campus lifee.g., student organization):
For comprehensive list of forms of social support, see Appendix in:
Stanton-Salazar, R. D. (2011). A social capital framework for the study of institutional
agents and of the empowerment of low-status youth. Youth & Society 43 (3), 1066-1109.
RD Stanton-Salazar, Ph.D.
WEBSITE: www.stanton-salazar.com
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com (Currently 5 posts for download.)
Available documents of unpublished work: www.scribd.com
EMAIL: rstantonsalazar@icloud.com

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Student

Summer Bridge Counselors

EOP Staff

Professors
Campus Administrator / Department Advisor
Campus Peers (friends)

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