Social Capital Survey - Jean Augustine Chair

Participate by taking this survey and enter for your chance to win $100

About the Survey

The Social Capital survey which is being conducted by the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in partnership with York University School of Continuing Studies, Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR), York TD Community Engagement Centre, and Black Opportunity Funds (BOF). We are interested in learning about your experiences pertaining to your employment and career path – such as pursuing job opportunities and building support networks – that will enable you to attain the job you desire.

This research aims to understand how factors such as level of education, gender, class, ethnicity, race, sexuality, mentorship etc. influence people's chances to obtain employment and advance in their careers in Canada.

By participating, you will help us and others understand how relationships with important people in your life, like family members, friends, and mentors, influence your job prospects and career goals. Our goal is to use this information to create programs that can help break down barriers to career advancement and support individuals like you in achieving your goals.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

This research contributes to filling a research gap by conducting the first-ever longitudinal survey focusing on how social capital could be acquired and used towards realizing the ambitions of racialized individuals. The survey will examine social capital in a race-conscious way by focusing on the voices of racialized people. In this way, the research will contribute to the development, reimagining and implementation of strategies and programs that provide better support for the upward social mobility of racialized people, in education, in the workplace and in life in general.

The purpose of the research is to investigate the experiences of racialized individuals' access to employment opportunities by which they seek to establish their occupational path, develop social supports, and realize their goals of social mobility conscious of their social capital mediated by race, class gender, level of education and other intersection identities in an inequitable Canadian society.

The goal of the research is to hear from individuals about their construction and understanding of their social capital and the extent to which the relationships with significant others and mentors have operated in response to their needs, interests and aspirations enabling them to navigate the occupational structures they encounter.

Social capital refers to a form of capital that is informal and is based on social relationships, norms and trust within a community or network. Social capital is the value derived from social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trust that arise from social relationships.

Social mobility refers to changes in a person’s socioeconomic situation, either about their parents (inter-generational mobility) or throughout their lifetime (intragenerational mobility).

Economic mobility refers to changes in an individual’s economic status over a lifetime and across generations- usually measured in income.

The main partners in this study are The Jean Augustine Chair, York School of Continuing Studies, and the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR). Other partners are TD Community Engagement Centre and Black Opportunity Fund.

This study focuses on all individuals who want to participate in the study, however, there is a focus on understanding the voices of racialized peoples, particularly Black Canadians and their experiences with accessing social capital toward their upward mobility.

The goal is for the government of Ontario will use the data to not only respond to the needs and issues of racialized peoples but also inform future supports that are culturally relevant and address systemic barriers to social mobility.

The survey data is going to be anonymized and may be deposited into one or more publicly accessible scientific repositories, such as York University Dataverse, an institutional research data repository, managed by York University Libraries and provided by Scholars Portal on behalf of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL).

No, your information and the identity you provide during the survey/interview will be kept strictly confidential. All audio recordings and any transcriptions will be assigned a unique identifier code and stored securely on password-protected servers. Only the researchers involved in this study will have access to the interview data. Any identifying information will be removed or anonymized to ensure your privacy. The data collected will be reported in aggregate form and will not be linked to your personal identity.

Participants can reach out to the principal investigator Professor Carl James at CJames@edu.yorku.ca or Tel:+16474050454 or Dr. Kathleen Sandy-Thompson at jachair@edu.yorku.ca.

The length of the survey is about 20 minutes.

Yes, this survey is the first phase of data collection. There are two other ways you can participate further in this study and that is through volunteering to be part of focus groups and or supplying your name after you participate in the survey to take part in a semi-structured interview lasting for 60-90 minutes facilitated by York University Zoom Platform or in person within the Faculty of Education, York University.

Yes, there are benefits to participating in this survey such as deriving the feeling that you have contributed to improving the support for racialized people by acting as key informants to research that aims to inform the work of university administration, public officials, and members of the community at large.

Also, for your time, $100 gift cards will randomly be drawn and given to participants who can or cannot complete all surveys. If you stop participating, you will still be eligible to receive the $100 gift card.