Cultural capital and educational attainment.
According to Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction, children from middle-class families are advantaged in gaining educational credentials due to their possession of cultural capital. In order to assess this theory, I have developed a broad operationalisation of the concept of cultural capital,...
| Publicado en: | Sociology Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 893 - 913 |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications, Ltd.
November 2001
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | According to Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction, children from middle-class families are advantaged in gaining educational credentials due to their possession of cultural capital. In order to assess this theory, I have developed a broad operationalisation of the concept of cultural capital, and have surveyed pupils on both their own and their parents' cultural capital. I will conclude that cultural capital is transmitted within the home and does have a significant effect on performance in the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations. However, a large direct effect of social class on attainment remains when cultural capital has been controlled for. Therefore, ‘cultural reproduction’ can provide only a partial explanation of social class differences in educational attainment. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. |
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