Browsing by Subject "social capital"
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Item A Case Study on Perspectives by Females of Mexican Descent on Access to Postsecondary Education Information(2014-04-30) Lara, Alma LeticiaThe purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the process Latino parents utilize to gain access to postsecondary education information during their children?s elementary schooling. Significantly, the support Latino parents provide in terms of in terms of resources, networks, and collaborative relationships with school and community providers is of paramount importance. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted for this study. This qualitative study employed social capital as the theoretical framework premised on the work by social theorists James Coleman, Pierre Bourdieu, and Robert Putnam. Findings indicated Latino immigrant parents face challenges such as language, culture dissonance, limited education, and immigration status which deter and limit the process of negotiating access to postsecondary education. Conclusions noted that social capital was evident in the following areas: (a) critical cognizance indicated by differential connections and understanding of access to resources; (b) primacy of action characterized by intricacies of action in pursuing access, (c) misguided intentionality resulting from conflicting cultural dispositions, and (d) relational investiture that suggests lack of investing in resources for accessing higher education information. Educational leaders play an important role in the process of providing postsecondary education to parents beginning at the elementary school level. A comprehensive, parent inclusive, college access plan is critical and necessary for flow and exchange of postsecondary education information.Item A road less traveled: Investigating the outside directors of America's corporate boards(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Lester, Richard H.Using human capital theory and social capital theory, I develop a model to explain the circumstances surrounding outside director appointments, patterns of outside board affiliations and outside director exits. I investigate why individuals become outside directors, why they continue to serve as directors after appointment, and why they terminate their service on boards. I find that an executive's home firm career and prestigious affiliations predict the likelihood and patterns of outside directorship service. Outside directors are critical to effective corporate governance, and to understand the board-governance process we need a better understanding of outside director service.Item Cleavages, social engagement and trust in post-communist euroupe(2009-05-15) Rossbach, David OttoThis dissertation addresses generalized trust in Post-Communist Europe. I examine trust stressing two sets of factors: the impact of attitudes associated with cleavages coming out of transition to democracy, and the importance of informal interpersonal association over more formal, structured forms of association. I argue that the classic list of cleavages suggested by Lipset and Rokkan (1967) have less importance to trust since those cleavages developed under the communist one-party state and were therefore less connected to the party system. As a result, these classic cleavages did not have the same mobilization functions as they did in Western Europe. Instead, I argue that cleavages that have developed out of the transition to democracy and a free-market economic system bear greater importance to trust. I further argue that due to the experience of forced group association during the communist era, and lingering distaste for formal political participation, the familiar Western models of the benefits of social engagement underestimate the importance of informal association in the post-communist states. Informal association was a key component of survival during the communist era and continues to be a valuable means of conferring information and forming political judgments. The first contribution this dissertation makes is that it brings together theories of political cleavages with theories of trust and social capital development. The dissertation bridges the gap between societal divisions and the position of the individual within these divisions. A second contribution of the dissertation is the testing of established theories of formal social engagement in post-communist states. The secretive nature of association during the communist era differs greatly from the open nature of association in the West. Theories of trust and social capital development must take this fact into account when exploring post-communist states.Item Landowners' perceptions on coordinated wildlife and groundwater management in the Edwards Plateau(Texas A&M University, 2006-10-30) Limesand, Craig MiltonSince Texas contains less than 5% public land, private landowners are critical to the success of environmental management initiatives in the state. This has implications for resources that traverse property boundaries, such as wildlife and groundwater. Texas landowners are increasingly capitalizing on the income potential of fee-based hunting, and many have banded together to form Wildlife Management Associations (WMAs). Not only can such landowner associations enhance the coordination of resource management decisions, they also have the potential to increase social capital, which is reflected by interpersonal trust, reciprocity and civic participation. To improve the management of common-pool resources it is important to understand the relationship between social capital and coordinated resource management because long-term community stability and resource sustainability appear to be highly correlated. A 600-landowner mail survey (with 48.1% response) was conducted in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas to compare the land management characteristics and social capital of landowners who are members of WMAs with non-member landowners. The goal of this research was to determine how WMA membership, property size, and location affect levels of social capital and interest in cooperative resource management. It was hypothesized that members, large landowners, and northern landowners would be more interested in cooperative management and exhibit higher social capital. While WMA members and large-property owners were more involved in wildlife management than non-members and small-property owners, this interest in resource management did not carry over to groundwater. These groups were not more involved in groundwater management activities, and all survey groups were disinterested in joining private cooperatives for groundwater marketing. Social capital differences were more evident between large- and small-property owners than between WMA members and non-members. Members scored higher only on community involvement, while large owners scored higher on community involvement as well as trust. These results suggest that WMA membership per se does not significantly increase social capital among Edwards Plateau landowners, but do not necessarily refute the importance of social capital within WMAs. Differences in trust between members were positively correlated with increased communication and meeting frequency, suggesting ways WMAs can improve intra-association social capital.Item Pr?spero: A Study of Success from the Mexican Middle Class in San Antonio, Texas(2012-10-19) Bertinato, SaritaImmigration is a topic that has experienced an evolution of social importance across centuries. While the United States has welcomed individuals seeking lives of promise and opportunity, its neighboring border with Mexico has also encouraged significant migration into the United States Therefore, immigration into Texas was not a new and unusual development. However, the flood of Mexican citizens trying to escape the regime of Porfirio Diaz was noteworthy and left San Antonio residents struggling to accept their new neighbors. The purpose of this dissertation is to study a historically Mexican middle class neighborhood in San Antonio, in order to identify factors that made it possible for some residents to experience socioeconomic prosperity while others were less successful. I believe that positive socioeconomic success resulted from two important factors: high levels of human and social capital and the synergistic interactions of sociopolitical elements. I begin by presenting an overview of the shared turbulent history between Mexico and the United States, the rise and fall of President Porfirio Diaz, and the role that the Mexican Revolution played in San Antonio's 1910 immigration flux. Since this research focuses on the Mexican middle class, I explore the literature pertaining to racial/ethnic definitions, the middle class, and human/social capital, as well as the relevance of each concept within the context of my research question. This research utilizes comparative/historical, qualitative, and quantitative methodologies. I present a quantitative analysis of Prospect Hill's residents, particularly those of an anomalous nature. Of the cases identified, I discuss the case of Romulo Munguia, a native-born Mexican who presented as the third anomalous Mexican resident. Munguia moved to the U.S. in 1926 and established himself as a successful, middle class printer who became heavily involved with San Antonio's Mexican community. Ultimately, Munguia's success indicates a dependency on two specific factors. First, he possessed considerable human and social capital that afforded him social, economic, and political advantages. Secondly, he settled into a community that desperately needed his skills and expertise. Munguia's case supports the hypothesis that immigrant prosperity requires both human/social capital and specific synergistic interactions to achieve success.Item School-Community Relations, Social Capital and Children's Walking to School Behaviors(2012-02-14) Kim, Hyung JinIn spite of increasing interests in the relationship between neighborhood environments and children's walking-to-school behaviors, few studies have examined the dynamic nature of school-community relationships from physical and social perspectives. Questions such as how centrally the school is located within the larger community, and how connected or accessible the school is to the surrounding communities, will have significant implications for children?s walking to school and physical activity behaviors and also for the community's social capital. The primary aims of this study are: (a) to assess the association between school-community relations and social capital among parents of school children; (b) to assess the relationship between school-community relations and walking-to-school behaviors among school children; and (c) to examine the mediating effects of social capital on the relationship of (b). This cross-sectional study focuses on children and parents from 19 elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Austin, Texas, utilizing the parental Safe Routes to School (SRTS) survey and conducting a follow-up Parental Social Capital survey to gather additional in-depth data on social capital. Also objective measurements are performed to assess school-community relations and physical environments using the spatial centrality index and Geographical Information System (GIS) network analysis at/around schools and surrounding communities. Data analyses are conducted based at the school/community-level and the individual-level (large full data and small sub-group data) separately by using ANOVAs, bivariate statistical analysis and multivariate statistical models. Overall findings of this study show that: (a) neighborhood schools have more students walking to school and a higher centrality of the school than non-neighborhood schools; (b) differences in social capital between neighborhood schools and non-neighborhood schools are not significant or are only marginally significantly; (c) two social capital variables, "volunteerism" and "social cohesion" are correlated with children's walking-to-school behaviors but no significant mediating effect is found for social capital in the association between school-community relations and children's walking-to-school behaviors; and (d) "volunteerism" is shown to be positively correlated with "perceived centrality" but negatively associated with all objective centrality measures. The other social capital variable of "social cohesion" has a positive correlation with one of the objective centrality measures, "closeness centrality." Findings of this study may contribute to research exploring the dynamics of school-community relations with socio-spatial perspectives, and also bring attention to the policy makers for school siting in the large community context and evidence-based knowledge promoting healthy community design.Item Social capital's dark side: knowledge, reciprocity, and the liability of relationships(2009-05-15) Collins, Jamie D.Social capital resources for the firm can be conceptualized as those executive-to-executive connections held by a firm?s top management team, as well as firm-to-firm relationships that exist fairly independently of particular individuals. This type of resource can compose an important portion of any firm?s overall resource portfolio. The potential benefits associated with social capital include enhanced economic exchange opportunities, improved innovation capabilities and increased firm survival rates, among others. This study adds to the literature stream focusing on the positive consequences of social capital by demonstrating the cross-level influence of social capital on the development of reciprocity within a joint venture network. It also highlights the link between social capital resources and the quality of knowledge available to a firm via its joint venture partnerships. More importantly, though, we specifically investigate the conditions under which a firm?s social capital (firm-to-firm relationships or the social capital held by key executives) can contribute to undesirable firm-level behaviors. One often mentioned, yet rarely explored dimension of social capital is the phenomenon frequently called the ?dark side? of social capital. This dark side of social capital is argued to exist whenever the behavioral expectations accompanying social capital limit contribute to undesirable outcomes for the firm. Several hypotheses are tested in the context of joint ventures among S&P 500 firms. The likelihood of a firm having legal action taken against it by federal regulatory agencies or other firms is demonstrated herein to be related to the number and strength of social capital relationships. In general this research supports the view that having a large number of weak ties is beneficial for firms. More specifically, we found that in the wake of the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, an inverse relationship exists between the likelihood of firms engaging in the undesirable behaviors investigated and the number of Boards of Directors on which the firms? respective executives held seats. Conversely, firms were more likely to engage in these undesirable behaviors whenever the firm-to-firm ties within their network of joint ventures were strongest. Furthermore, executive discretion was highly related to the likelihood of firms engaging in undesirable behaviors.Item Wildlife and water: collective action and social capital of selected landowner associations in Texas(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Wagner, Matthew WayneIn Texas, landowner associations for the management of common-pool resources such as wildlife and groundwater have become increasingly popular. Successful management of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) depends upon the collective decision-making of landowners. Likewise, aquifer reserves are a trans-boundary resource subject to the "rule of capture." Numerous factors may affect the success of common-pool associations, including property ownership and habitat characteristics, landowner demographics, and social capital. I used a mail questionnaire to explore the relationship between these factors and their effect on association activities and management practices for eight Wildlife Management Associations (WMAs) occurring within the Lower Post Oak Savannah (LPOS) and the Central Post Oak Savannah (CPOS). In addition, I compared responses of members of WMAs in CPOS to members of the Brazos Valley Water Alliance (BVWA), a groundwater association situated in the region. Compared to CPOS, members of WMAs within the LPOS belonged to much larger groups, were generally more recent landowners that met more often, raised more money using more funding methods, and tended to have longer association membership than CPOS landowners, yet they had lower social capital. CPOS landowners owned significantly more land and considered relaxation/leisure and hunting more important land uses than LPOS landowners. The smaller group size in CPOS may be the most important factor in building social capital. Intra-association trust was positively influenced by the longevity of property ownership, the number of association meetings, the percentage of males in the association, and other factors. Negative influences on trust included absentee ownership and Habitat Cover Index, which was a measure of the amount of wooded habitat present. In CPOS, members of the BVWA were part of a much larger, more heterogeneous, and more recently formed group than members of WMAs. They also placed greater importance on utilitarian aspects of their properties, as opposed to land stewardship for conservation as practiced by members of WMAs. If associations are kept small ( < 50) with more frequent meetings, greater social capital and information sharing may be achieved, which may lead to increased land stewardship practices. However, landowners may be motivated more by their shared values independent of any benefit from their association.