Date of Award
2025
Degree Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Education, PhD
Program
School of Educational Studies
Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair
Linda Perkins
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Melissa Rogers
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Rachel Camacho
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2025 Candyce Simpson
Keywords
College Admissions, School Counselor, Social Capital, Urban School Counselor, Urban Students
Subject Categories
Education | Educational Leadership
Abstract
This study analyzed the differences in social capital between counselors from elite high schools in comparison to counselors from urban public schools and examined how that capital benefits student access to more selective colleges. Urban schools that serve more low-income population of students need support that appears to be commonplace to their counterparts at more elite high schools. Urban school counselors are considered a primary source of information, and they may not know what they do not know regarding college knowledge. The college application process is tedious; it can be characterized as a full-time job when persisting through the application season. Counselors from schools with a majority of under-represented students struggle to support their students due to constraints and misuse of their time on non-counseling duties. Because of this, their ability to build relationships with counseling peers to develop the social capital of college knowledge, specifically college knowledge pertinent to applying to selective colleges, is greatly diminished. This study surveyed college counselors from urban and elite high schools. The results reveal a significant discrepancy in social capital between the counselors surveyed. The counselor caseloads, duties, access to professional development, access to professional peers all play a role in the development of the valuable social capital needed to make an impact on student’s post-secondary options.
ISBN
9798290970660
Recommended Citation
Simpson, Candyce. (2025). Social Capital of Urban School Counselors the Differences in Social Capital Between Counselors From Elite High Schools and Counselors From Public High Schools; and How That Capital Benefits Student Access to Selective Colleges. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 1006. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1006.
