2007 Fellowship Program fellows

Restructuring Schools in Armenian Neighborhoods: Does Social Capital Matter? /draft/

Armine Asryan will investigate the effect of communities’ social capital on the renovation of Armenian schools. Comparing two school communities in Yerevan ? one from a rich, and the second from a poor neighborhood – she will explore how economic well-being affects the social capital of the communities and how those factors affect communities’ willingness to restructure/renovate their schools. The researcher will conduct a quantitative survey in the neighborhoods of the selected schools to assess their economic status, social capital, and their willingness to participate in school restructuring. She will then calculate indices for bridging and bonding capital in each community, the aggregate of which will constitute a neighborhood’s social capital. Asryan will also analyze the effects of age, gender and education on the social capital of those communities. The findings of this research will be submitted to a peer-reviewd journal but may also be particularly useful for the Social Investment Fund, the Pan-Armenian Fund, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, USAID, the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science and others, which implement school restructuring projects and foster civic activism in local communities. These organizations may use the findings of this research to revise their strategies and implement more effective school renovation programs.

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