Ethnic divisions and social capital described in the narratives of young Romanian Roma - Maria Roth and Florina Pop
This paper, co-authored by Maria Roth and Florina Pop, considers the role of ethnic divisions and social capital in understanding the narratives of Romanian Roma high school students. The aim of our research is to analyse the resources and barriers Roma adolescents idenify in their life context and the role of these factors in assigning their future educational and career path. The focus of this research is on whether the idenified resources function as social capital and help Roma adolescents cope with disadvantage.
Our findings illustrate that adolescents identify several resources in their life context such as parents, teachers of colleagues, but they also refer to inferiorisation promoted by teachers and students and to difficulties they believe they will experience in continuing their studies or persuing a certain career. This article argues that beyond data illustrating the low educational level and skills level of young Roma, the situation needs to be approached within a broader framework, which accounts for the impact of structural inequality and processes of differentiation which influence the ability to overcome disadvantage. In Today's Children - Tomorrow's Parents, No 40, p. 96-110.
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