The Role of Extended Family Networks as Social Capital in Educational Attainment: A Qualitative Study in African Communities

Gbenga Michael Adeyeye

Department of Education and Curriculum Studies

University of Johannesburg

Volume 1 Issue 1 | Published Online : May, 2025 | ISSN 1595-7405

This research looks into how extended family networks work as a type of social capital and how they affect how much schooling people in African communities get. The study is based on Bourdieu, Coleman, and Putnam’s ideas about social capital. It looks into how collective family arrangements (the nuclear family) help students with money, emotions, and schoolwork. The study uses a qualitative case study method in Ogbomoso North Local Government and includes in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis to look at what extended family systems can and can’t do to help with schooling. The result is that these networks make it much easier for people to get an education by sharing resources, providing mentoring, promoting emotional stability, and passing on culture. But problems like limited funds, people moving to cities, family fights, and sporadic support make them less likely to last. The research emphasizes the value of collaboration among policymakers, institutions, and community groups to enhance the educational outcomes facilitated by extended family networks. This study adds to our understanding of how local support systems work as educational supports in the social and cultural settings of Africa.

Keywords: African Communities, Educational Attainments, Social Capital, Qualitative Research, Extended Family Network.

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Dr. Gbenga Michael Adeyeye is a researcher and academic in the Department of Education and Curriculum Studies at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses on the role of extended family networks as a form of social capital and their impact on educational attainment in African communities. His work draws on the theoretical frameworks of Bourdieu, Coleman, and Putnam to explore how collective family structures influence financial, emotional, and academic support for students.

Adeyeye, Gbenga Michael. “Extended Family Networks as Social Capital and Their Impact on Educational Attainment in African Communities,” Michad-Pechez Journal of Education and Educational Technologies 1, no. 1 (2025): 1–23.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Michad – Pechez Journals.