University of Wisconsin–Madison

About NCA Project

NCA Project logo.

The Networks and Cultural Assets Project (NCA) is a research initiative that examines how students draw on their cultural wealth and social relationships as they navigate college, career development, and life transitions. Using survey and interview instruments grounded in Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework, the project documents the skills, knowledge, and dispositions students develop through their families, communities, cultures, and lived experiences. By centering students’ assets rather than deficits, NCA challenges long-standing approaches to research and programming that overlook the strengths students already bring with them to higher education.

Project Areas

Research

NCA integrates measures of Community Cultural Wealth with personal social network analysis to understand how students’ assets are nurtured through relationships both on and off campus. The project has been implemented across multiple institutional contexts and links students’ networks and cultural assets to outcomes relevant for academic and career development, such as work values, aspirations, and resilience.

Instructional Support

NCA also works directly with educators who seek to adopt asset-based and relational approaches in their instructional and advising practices. We offer workshops for educators and institutions on supporting asset-based and relational approaches to teaching and career development practices. We also provide workshops for students focused on recognizing, articulating, and mobilizing their networks and cultural assets.

People

Nidia Bañuelos profile picture

Nidia Bañuelos, Ph.D.

Principal Invesigator

Assistant Professor, Division of Continuing Studies

Ross Benbow profile picture

Ross Benbow, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Invesigator

Researcher, Wisconsin Center for Education Research

Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci profile picture

Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci

Project Assistant

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Educational Policy Studies

Claudia Triana Ipniza profile picture

Claudia Triana Ipinza

Project Assistant

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Educational Policy Studies

Natalie Xiong

Undergraduate Research Assistant

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Graduate Project Assistants and Postdocs

Trevor D. McCray, Ph.D.

Michael Sanchez, M.S.

Luis Gonzalez-Quizhpe, M.A.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Bryna Goeking

Naing Naing

Olivia Schmidt

Acknowledgements

Our project is currently funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Title: To support the completion of a longitudinal study examining the social networks and community cultural wealth of undergraduate Latine STEM majors).

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National Science Foundation (Award #2201545)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Contact Us

Our newsletter shares research and practice related to college students’ social networks and cultural assets. We welcome the chance to connect with researchers and educators who are interested in social network analysis and asset-based approaches.