Prior studies have shown that students who are the first in their families to attend college fail to persist in college more so than their continuing-generation (CG) counterparts do. Prior research on this phenomenon has helped to identify various factors that contribute to the lower college persistence of first-generation (FG) students. For example, social capital has been identified as a factor that improves student persistence in college. Prior studies have shown that FG students tend to enter college with lower social capital than their CG student counterparts do. Additionally, while in school, FG students tend not to engage in behaviors that can help them in the creation of social capital. There has been growing research on how Internet communication technologies (ICTs) may be used as a resource in the creation of social capital. Specifically, there have been several studies that have examined how the Internet has provided opportunities for the creation of both bonding (relationships with persons inside one's cultural network, like family and close friends) and bridging (persons outside one's cultural network) forms of social capital. This study used a non-experimental design approach to compare the differences in technology-enabled bonding (TEBD) and technology-enabled bridging (TEBR) behaviors of FG and CG students. This study also used a predictive design approach aimed at predicting the persistence in college of first-year students based on the contributions of TEBD and TEBR behaviors, as well as socioeconomic status (SES) and high school grade point average (GPA). Finally, this study sought to develop and validate an instrument that could reliably measure the TEBD and TEBR behaviors of college students for use in future studies. A sample of 316 full-time first- to second-year students at a small, private, college in the Midwestern United States were surveyed on the dimensions of their TEBD (emotional support, access to resources, and sociability behavior) and TEBR (involvement in campus activities, contact with others unlike themselves, sociability behaviors, and academic activities) behaviors, as well as three dimensions of SES (parental education, parental income, and parental occupations) and high school GPA. Findings of this study showed there was no significant difference in the TEBD and TEBR behaviors of FG and CG students, which in itself is significant. Additionally, this study found high school GPA and one dimension of SES (parental income) to be positive predictors of student persistence in college. This study also found one dimension of TEBD (access to resources), one dimension of TEBR (contact with others unlike themselves), and one dimension of SES (parental occupation), to be negative predictors of student persistence in college. This study made the following three important contributions: 1) the development of an instrument for measuring TEBD and TEBR behaviors of college students; 2) an investigation of the differences in TEBD and TEBR behaviors of FG and CG students; and, 3) an investigation of key constructs that contribute to student persistence from their first-to-second year of college. Recommendations for future research were made which included extending this research to 1) include other types of technology communication devices, such as cell phones; 2) examine the contributions of TEBD and TEBR to persistence in college between semesters; 3) improve the methodology for collecting survey data; and 4) investigate if there are significant differences between FG and CG students on the amount of time spent online engaged in social and academic activities, as well as examine if time spent online is a predictor of student persistence in college.

Cette recherche traite du rôle du Système d'Information dans le développement de l'innovation au sein d'un réseau d'acteurs hétérogènes. La notion de capital sociotechnique est mobilisée. Elle traduit la participation des dispositifs techniques et sociaux du SI dans le développement de capital social au cours de l'innovation. L'étude se place dans une démarche exploratoire et vise à formuler des propositions théoriques par le recours à l'Actor-Network Theory (ANT). Une étude de cas unique est réalisée à QualiREG, un réseau scientifique et technique réunissant les acteurs de la sécurité et de la qualité agroalimentaire des régions du sud-ouest de l'Océan Indien. Cette structure, où l'innovation est présente à de multiples niveaux, rassemble des acteurs différents du point de vue de leurs domaines de recherche, statuts, fonctions, origines géographiques, cultures, etc. Une méthodologie mixte combinant données qualitatives et quantitatives est mobilisée dans le but d'appréhender en profondeur les mécanismes de circulation de l'information au sein du réseau. Les résultats des deux approches sont ensuite triangulés. Ils décrivent la constitution de capital social dans le réseau QualiREG, les freins et frontières associés à ce phénomène et le rôle du SI dans sa constitution. Le développement du capital social est supporté par un millefeuille de médias composé de rencontres en face à face et de plusieurs Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (TIC). En ce sens, le capital social développé au cours de l'innovation est donc un capital sociotechnique qui représente une forme de valeur générée par le réseau. / This research aims to study the role of the information system in the development of innovation in a network with heterogeneous actors. We mobilize the concept of sociotechnical capital which translates the participation of Information Systems in the development of the social capital during innovation process. The study uses an exploratory approach and aims to formulate theoretical propositions by using the Actor-Network Theory (ANT). A unique case study is carried out at QualiREG, a scientific and technical network gathering the actors of the food-processing industry security and quality of the regions of the south-west Indian Ocean. The network is composed of actors who distinguish themselves on multiple levels: area of research, status (researchers, technicians, civil servants, and entrepreneurs), geographical origin, culture, etc. QualiREG is also a network where innovation is present in a recurrent manner and on multiple levels. A mixed methodology combining qualitative and quantitative data is used in order to apprehend in depth the information circulation mechanisms inside the network. Results of these two approaches are lastly triangulated. They describe the constitution of social capital in QualiREG network, the obstacles and limits associated to this phenomenon and the role of Information System. The development of social capital is made possible by a “millefeuille” of media composed of face-to-face meetings and multiple Information and Communication Technologies. Thus, the social capital developed during innovation is a sociotechnical capital which represents a type of value generated by the innovation process.