A growing body of research now points to the pivotal role social capital plays in long-term labor market success and economic mobility. Unfortunately, social capital building is a skill that’s not taught in schools nor in America’s workforce programs.

This webinar will explore the differences between the main conceptual approaches to social capital and their theoretical foundations. Social capital has a variety of different meanings, and this tends to create confusion, with the same term meaning different things.

This presentation will provide a brief history of the concept of social capital, paying special attention to its development in educational research. Using research on reading as a focal point, it will argue that commonly cited limitations of social capital as a concept are likely responsible for the concept’s relatively slow uptake in areas of research that draw on psychological theories and methods. Practical examples will be provided. The presentation will conclude by making tentative recommendations for improving the use of the concept in educational research.

The World Social Capital Monitor allows citizens to score eight local social goods in 50 languages on any Mobile anonymous without registration. The survey includes the offer to have a qualitative say and to choose a ZIP, district or even village.

Given the broad conceptualization of social capital (SC), several SC categorizations currently exist. In organizations, it is customary to divide the SC into three levels: Personal, Intra-organizational and Extra-organizational SC. I research the three levels together and separately; and investigate the connections to other personal variables and organizational outcomes, quantitively and qualitatively. In the
presentation I talk about some of my studies and implications.

In this webinar, I will propose a new line of inquiry that aims to link interdisciplinary understandings to improve our understanding of social capital and how to build or improve it in any context.

Collaboration, and more of it, is often called for across many walks of life, the assumption being that more diverse contributions will improve outcomes and impact. As an innovation researcher with a scientific background, I have always been interested in the role of collaborative activity to successful (or otherwise) research projects. As we are well aware, the development of social capital is viewed as essential to collaboration. Over the years I have explored what appears to support the building of social capital, particularly when geographical proximity isn’t possible, such as in international collaborations and/or virtual organisations.

This presentation will provide a brief summary of social capital conceptualizations as they relate to youth. Data from several researchers on social capital and adolescent wellbeing will be presented based on a range of outcomes including nutrition, physical activity, use of technology, self-rated health or academic performance. The presentation will conclude by discussing implications for practice and implementation.