The Importance of Graduates' Perceived Network Quality in Their Transition to Work: A Longitudinal Approach

ABSTRACT To navigate the labour market graduates turn to their social network for valuable resources. However, existing disparities in accessing and exerting network resources may result in more precarious transition outcomes for first‐generation graduates. To gain deeper insight into how social networks facilitate the transition process, this study focuses on the network actors and resources that are perceived as valuable by graduates. Over a 4‐month period commencing at graduation, 22 graduates, encompassing both first‐generation and continuing‐generation students, were bi‐weekly tasked with mapping their social networks. Results show that graduates rely strongly on close contacts, making graduates dependent on the experience of their parents with a certain field of work, which often results in an implicit advantage for continuing‐generation graduates. Moreover, higher education institutions fail to use their power to embed valuable institutional resources or network actors into graduates' networks after graduation, which creates limited opportunity structures, in particular, for first‐generation graduates.