The pursuit of social capital among adolescent high school aged girls: The role of formal mentor-mentee relationships

Social capital has been found to contribute to the upward social mobility of youth. This study investigates the process of social capital development among a group of ethno-racial minority adolescent girls involved with a community based nonprofit organization that acts as a catalyst for developing mentor-mentee relationships. One to one interviews were conducted with 15 program participants. Findings show that although this group is young, they have an awareness of their lack of social capital and use their mentorship relationship to build social capital. Mentees then use this newly acquired social capital to help pursue educational attainment through acceptance to university programs and connections to practicing professionals. The findings demonstrate the importance of creating programming that promotes access to social capital for high school aged youth. Insights have implications for thinking innovatively to adapt current efforts or create new opportunities to better support the upward social mobility and transitions for this age cohort.