This qualitative research study began as an exploration of the central qualities of the lived experience of students in two urban-suburban high schools where, as an outcome of rapid demographic change, White students now represent the nontraditional racial minority and Black students represent the racial majority. Semistructured interviews, the primary method of data collection, were conducted with students who had graduated from the high schools under study and with adults who had significant ties to the district. Student informants, in particular, shared high school experiences of marginalization that included silence, rendered invisibility, stereotyping, and bias owing in large part to their racial/cultural status whether White or Black. They revealed a more powerful reality that counteracted the effects of marginalization and enabled them to negotiate identities across boundaries of access to resources supporting social and academic success.
Social capital that facilitated development of cultural resilience counteracted marginalizing conditions related to diversity in the high school experience. An articulated and captured vision of leadership for social justice, beginning with and courageously modeled by the educational leaders of the district, is key to the intentioned diffusion of social capital and cultural resilience in support of student success in diverse high school environments.
","abstract_html":"<p>This qualitative research study began as an exploration of the central qualities of the lived experience of students in two urban-suburban high schools where, as an outcome of rapid demographic change, White students now represent the nontraditional racial minority and Black students represent the racial majority. Semistructured interviews, the primary method of data collection, were conducted with students who had graduated from the high schools under study and with adults who had significant ties to the district. Student informants, in particular, shared high school experiences of marginalization that included silence, rendered invisibility, stereotyping, and bias owing in large part to their racial/cultural status whether White or Black. They revealed a more powerful reality that counteracted the effects of marginalization and enabled them to negotiate identities across boundaries of access to resources supporting social and academic success.</p> <p>Social capital that facilitated development of cultural resilience counteracted marginalizing conditions related to diversity in the high school experience. An articulated and captured vision of leadership for social justice, beginning with and courageously modeled by the educational leaders of the district, is key to the intentioned diffusion of social capital and cultural resilience in support of student success in diverse high school environments.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Erby, Marci A"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Leadership and Counseling","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jaclynn Tracy, PhD, Chairperson","Valerie Polakow, PhD","Barbara Diamond, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:30Z","subjects":["Minority students United States Social conditions","Marginality","Social Cross-cultural studies","Educational equalization United States","Social capital (Sociology) United States","Educational Leadership"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/92","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jaclynn Tracy, PhD, Chairperson","Valerie Polakow, PhD","Barbara Diamond, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Erby, Marci A"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Leadership and Counseling"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Minority students United States Social conditions","Marginality","Social Cross-cultural studies","Educational equalization United States","Social capital (Sociology) United States","Educational Leadership"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/92"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This qualitative research study began as an exploration of the central qualities of the lived experience of students in two urban-suburban high schools where, as an outcome of rapid demographic change, White students now represent the nontraditional racial minority and Black students represent the racial majority. Semistructured interviews, the primary method of data collection, were conducted with students who had graduated from the high schools under study and with adults who had significant ties to the district. Student informants, in particular, shared high school experiences of marginalization that included silence, rendered invisibility, stereotyping, and bias owing in large part to their racial/cultural status whether White or Black. They revealed a more powerful reality that counteracted the effects of marginalization and enabled them to negotiate identities across boundaries of access to resources supporting social and academic success.
Social capital that facilitated development of cultural resilience counteracted marginalizing conditions related to diversity in the high school experience. An articulated and captured vision of leadership for social justice, beginning with and courageously modeled by the educational leaders of the district, is key to the intentioned diffusion of social capital and cultural resilience in support of student success in diverse high school environments.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Cultural resilience--a currency of social capital: Counteracting student marginalization in two urban--suburban high schools"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jaclynn Tracy, PhD, Chairperson","Valerie Polakow, PhD","Barbara Diamond, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Erby, Marci A"],"dc:description.abstract":["This qualitative research study began as an exploration of the central qualities of the lived experience of students in two urban-suburban high schools where, as an outcome of rapid demographic change, White students now represent the nontraditional racial minority and Black students represent the racial majority. Semistructured interviews, the primary method of data collection, were conducted with students who had graduated from the high schools under study and with adults who had significant ties to the district. Student informants, in particular, shared high school experiences of marginalization that included silence, rendered invisibility, stereotyping, and bias owing in large part to their racial/cultural status whether White or Black. They revealed a more powerful reality that counteracted the effects of marginalization and enabled them to negotiate identities across boundaries of access to resources supporting social and academic success.
Social capital that facilitated development of cultural resilience counteracted marginalizing conditions related to diversity in the high school experience. An articulated and captured vision of leadership for social justice, beginning with and courageously modeled by the educational leaders of the district, is key to the intentioned diffusion of social capital and cultural resilience in support of student success in diverse high school environments.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/92"],"dc:subject":["Minority students United States Social conditions","Marginality","Social Cross-cultural studies","Educational equalization United States","Social capital (Sociology) United States","Educational Leadership"],"dc:title":["Cultural resilience--a currency of social capital: Counteracting student marginalization in two urban--suburban high schools"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Leadership and Counseling"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:30Z"}