A changing landscape? An intersectional analysis of race and gender disparity in access to social capital

Abstract We apply intersectional frameworks and use a nationally representative dataset to investigate patterns of differential access to social capital among six racial and gender groups. We define social capital as resources controlled by individuals’ social contacts. Individuals can mobilize those contacts to facilitate their actions. We characterize one’s access to social capital with three indicators: the average occupational prestige score of individuals’ social contacts (average), the highest occupation reached among individuals’ contacts (reach), and the number of positions accessed (network diversity). Concerning the average score of one’s social contacts, our findings support the double jeopardy approach, with a simple hierarchy of gender and race/ethnicity: all men have a higher average score than their women counterparts. However, although white men have the highest average score in their social contacts, black women have the highest reach and highest network diversity, net of effects from mediating controls. We discuss implications of our research for future studies of social capital, on the one hand, and intersectionality, especially as it relates to the notions of black male and Latino male vulnerability, on the other.