Social capital can be thought of as the networks between people and the relationships of trust and reciprocity they develop.
The vital difference for young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and ‘succeed’, versus those who don’t, is having access to role models, meaningful social capital and diverse opportunities.
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Beyond school, most young people across society aren’t provided with any particular project or organisation to guide them, they don’t need or wish to comply to someone else’s pathway for their achievement and success, and yet, many (or indeed most) still manage to identify a potential job or career, create their journey, gain qualifications and subsequently employment and independence. They understand the challenges they face, make up their own mind, and choose their own route. But, and it’s a significant but, in almost every case they had access to something of incomparable value…meaningful social capital. And here is the root of much of the social mobility problem today, put most simply, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’.
Given this, what we need is a means to give every young person access to the networks they can turn to when they need advice or guidance, or to have their aspirations raised and their horizons broadened, to tap into some help in opening doors, and to have access to relatable and positive role models who can show them that they too can succeed. Networks of this kind allow young people the opportunity to identify their own prospects, to be empowered, enabled to make their own choices in life, able to fail and to learn safely, and find their own route towards their own definition of success.
There are of course tens of thousands of active networks out there, including school, college and university groups, formal professional networks and informal interest groups. With each member of each network not just belonging to that group but potentially dozens of others, and each member of those groups are in dozens more. Everyone is connected, everyone has the potential to link with everyone else in about three or four steps, and with the proliferation of social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, this has been made even easier. Rather than creating expensive new initiatives and programmes we should be taking these incredibly powerful networked resources and create the means for all and any young people to tap into them in a straightforward manner, which is were Youth Social Capital comes in.
We strive for every young person to benefit from powerful networks and connections, to give them role models, meaningful social capital and the access to diverse opportunities.
Youth Social Capital 