PERSONAL NETWORKS, SCHOOLS, AND HIGHER EDUCATION: LINKING SOCIAL CAPITAL AND STUDENT PATHWAYS BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL

Understanding the factors that shape students’ university choices is essential for analysing educational transitions. Previous research highlights the role of economic, social, and marketing factors, with key influences including personal characteristics, family background, school context, and peers. While much of the literature focuses on peer effects on academic performance, less attention has been paid to how social networks affect decisions about higher education. The paper explores the role of personal networks – comprising family, friends, classmates, and acquaintances – in shaping students’ university choices, with particular attention to the interplay between personal, familial, and social dimensions. By conceptualising these networks as a form of social capital, the paper examines how network composition and structure influence students’ access to support, particularly informational, emotional, and appraisal resources. The findings show that students embedded in highly interconnected networks are better positioned to access both informational and emotional support, which plays a key role in educational transitions. In contrast, students with weaker personal networks face challenges in making informed decisions due to limited access to relevant resources. The study also highlights the importance of both network size and structural diversity in strengthening social capital and facilitating informed decision-making during the transition from high school to university.