Social Capital and Self-Crafting: Comparing Two Case Studies of First-in-Family Males Navigating Elite Australian Universities

First-in-family (FIF) males, often from low-socio-economic backgrounds, remain severely underrepresented in Australian higher education. Experiences with social life can be a significant determiner to their success at university as well as their prospects for future employment. This paper explores the experiences of two FIF males as they transition from secondary school to elite courses in prestigious universities. As they navigate these new spaces, we are interested in how these two young men, Lucas and Adam, perceive the accrual of social capital and how this is interrelated with crafting learner identities within the field of university life. In comparing the two case studies, the paper draws on various theories of social capital in an effort to provide nuance regarding how young people access, accrue, and mobilise social capital which may be ever shifting in its composition and power. The paper contributes to the scholarship on upward mobility and social capital through highlighting (1) the strategies adopted for social and academic success, (2) the ways in which social capital must be skilfully operationalised to one's advantage as well as what this means for the crafting of self, and (3) the differences between accessing and "operationalising" social capital.