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Cultural Capital and Its Effects on Education Outcomes

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Abstract

In this study we distinguished between two forms of cultural capital, one that is static, representing the highbrow activities and practices of parents, and one that is relational, representing cultural interactions and communication between children and their parents. We used data for 28 countries from the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment to examine whether these two types of cultural capital were associated with students’ reading literacy, sense of belonging at school, and occupational aspirations, after controlling for traditional measures of socioeconomic status. We examined whether one type of cultural capital had stronger effects than the other and whether their effects differed across outcomes and across countries. The results provide compelling evidence that dynamic cultural capital has strong effects on students’ schooling outcomes, while static cultural capital has more modest effects.

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... Children with higher levels of cultural capital exhibit superior educational achievements. These achievements are observed by their adeptness in comprehending linguistic structures, adherence to institutional rules, and mastery of abstract concepts imparted throughout their academic journey (Tramonte and Willms, 2010). ...
... Students' responses about their engagement with cultural goods and services were aggregated into a single composite variable. It is worth noting that a similar approach was adopted by Tramonte and Willms (2010) in their analysis of cultural consumption using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The students' responses encompassed various aspects of cultural consumption, such as visits to libraries, cinemas, shows, and exhibitions (including theaters, museums, dance performances, and music events) and their reading habits in terms of books, comics, newspapers, and internet news. ...
... Moreover, empirical evidence establishes a connection between cultural consumption and improved academic performance as measured by proficiency tests, reduced dropout rates, and heightened educational aspirations (Tramonte and Willms, 2010). Considering the identified determinants and spatial distribution of cultural consumption, it is only plausible that the impacts mentioned above may exhibit asymmetrical distribution patterns within Brazil. ...
... Bourdieu's work highlighted the influence of cultural capital in perpetuating social inequalities, particularly in relation to the disparities between urban and rural areas. Moreover, cultural capital has independent effects on educational outcomes beyond socioeconomic and family background variables, highlighting its significance in the educational landscape (Jaeger 2009;Tramonte and Willms 2010). This concept is also critical in the realm of PE, where cultural capital can manifest as students' understanding of learning objectives, performance expectations, and assessment criteria established by their teachers (Hay and Macdonald 2008). ...
... Urban students, with broader exposure to diverse educational practices and richer cultural capital (Tan 2017), showed enthusiasm for TGfU, facilitated by a habitus aligned with active learning and critical thinking. Conversely, rural students often have a habitus shaped by traditional educational experiences that favor direct instruction, making it difficult for them to engage with TGfU's cognitive and tactical demands (Bojczyk et al. 2015;Jaeger 2009;Tramonte and Willms 2010). ...
... Cultural capital has been the subject of study by many researchers from different areas of knowledge (Jaeger and Karlson, 2018;Mikus et al., 2020;Piotto and Nogueira, 2021;Raudenská and Bašná, 2021). One of the objects of these studies is to know the impact that cultural capital has on students' performance in large-scale evaluative tests (Tramonte and Willms, 2010;Gaddis, 2013;Mikus et al., 2020). This emphasis is justified by the fact that, according to Bourdieu (1998), cultural capital has an explanatory power in student performance almost equal to economic capital. ...
... SCC can be understood from all the practical, intentional and intelligent activities that are available to children, even if they are not necessarily the child's own choice. On the other hand, RCC is defined with the communication and culture interactions that take place in the family environment (Tramonte and Willms, 2010). This capital is incorporated throughout the child's experience by listening and observing. ...
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Introduction We define cultural capital as a set of assets or resources accumulated over a lifetime through relationships and events in the family environment. We analyze cultural capital under two dimensions: static cultural capital (SCC) and relational cultural capital (RCC). The objective of this study was to verify the effect that cultural capital has on students' academic performance. Method The research included the participation of 11,795 students who were classified into four levels of cultural capital, in each of the two dimensions: G1–Critical, G2–Low, G3–Medium, and G4–High. Statistical analyses such as ANOVA, Student's t-test and factorial design showed the impact of cultural capital in the combination of the different groups with the subjects of Portuguese and mathematics. Results The results led us to conclude that: (1) cultural capital, in both dimensions, impacts the students' academic performance, both in Portuguese, F(3, 11764) = 9.516, with p < 0.001 and η² = 0.002, F(3, 11764) = 42.349, with p < 0.001 and η² = 0.011, and in mathematics, F(3, 11764) = 13,728, with p < 0.001 and η² = 0.003, and F(3, 11764) = 28.138, with p < 0.001 and η² = 0.007, and; 2. RCC linearly impacts student performance as SCC is increased, F(9, 11771) = 1.869, with p = 0.052 and η² = 0.001. Conclusion (1) cultural capital impacts students' academic performance, but most notably in the Portuguese language discipline. (2) The dimensions of cultural capital behave differently and the excess of SCC, without the presence of RCC, impacts the reduction of medium performance. (3) The RCC linearly impacts student performance as the SCC is increased.
... Previous research have indicated that a link exists between cultural capital and academic performance. For instance, Tramonte and Willms [38] study indicated that students with embodied cultural capital perform better than students with objectified capital. In a study by Kraaykamp and Van Eijck (2010), the findings demonstrated that cultural capital links to the learning outcomes. ...
... The influence of a family's cultural capital on students' academic success has also been documented in studies by Huang & Liang [47] and Caprara (2016). Typically, family capital is closely linked to family income and other resources that facilitate learning, such as textbooks, comfortable living conditions, accessible transportation, technological devices for internet access, dedicated study spaces, and online resources [38,54]. The wealth associated with a family's economic capital often positions them to excel academically compared to their peers. ...
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Background Studies that were carried out previously on learning outcomes focused mainly on the student's cognitive domain while identifying factors that predicted it. More so, most of the learner's assessments in school are largely dependent on the score obtained from specific subjects by the learner, and efforts to address other domains of instruction such as affective and psychomotor domains have been minimal or absent in regard to the variables selected for the study. This study therefore sought to address that gap by finding out the relative and composite contribution of academic optimism and capital indicators to the learning outcomes (of students. Methods The study adopted a correlational design with a multistage sampling technique to select a total of 534 senior secondary class II students. Two research instruments, the Academic Optimism and Capital Indicators Scale (AOCIS) and the Learning Outcomes Scale (LOS), were used for data collection. Exploratory and confirmatory factors analysis were used to assess the dimensionality of the items and factor structure of the scales. The psychometric properties obtained for scale were adequate for the instrument to be adjudged valid and reliable.The collected data were analysed using the hierarchical regression approach (HRA). Results The findings of the study revealed that academic emphasis, collective efficacy, faculty trust, social capital, economic capital, and cultural capital, relatively and jointly, predict overall learning outcomes (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor construct). The result showed that there was an increased proportion of variance with each addition of a predictor to the model. Social capital reduced the percentage change at the initial time, but with the addition of economic capital, the proportion of change increased among others in the subsequent model examination. Conclusion /implication: The study provides knowledge and empirical evidence that academic optimism and capital indicators, with their dimensions, affect composite learning outcomes among students. This study will help school ministries, policymakers, and curriculum planners make sure that the educational objectives, philosophies, and programmes are planned to reflect the total learner in order to produce the total learner that will effect changes in the society. This study has provided evidence that academic inputs and capital indicators are crucial indices of their learning outcomes in the three area of learning. The ability of the school to emphasise academics, ensure that all school agents are committed to instructional delivery, and gain the trust of parents is crucial for adequate support to enhance students learning outcomes. The outcome has implication for policy development and providing a climate that can stimulate equity, trust and motivation.
... Furthermore, certain studies have also conflated the measures of both forms of family capital. For instance, Tramonte and Willms (2010) proposed the concept of relational cultural capital, which has indicators that were conflated with those of family social capital. Similarly, Crosnoe (2004) introduced the notion of the family conduit of social capital, which has been loosely defined and lacks clear differentiation. ...
... Following this, family cultural capital has motivated much empirical research on educational outcomes, with studies evaluated in a Western context (Andersen and Jaeger 2015;Tramonte and Willms 2010;Xu and Hampden-Thompson 2011), a non-Western context (Byun et al. 2012a, b), and even in a comparative context of various nations (Huang and Liang 2016;Tan and Liu 2018). For example, to understand how family cultural capital affects academic success in different contexts, Tan and Liu (2018) used data from 116,508 students who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012 and compared six Confucian heritage cultures (CHCs) with nine non-Confucian heritage cultures (non-CHCs) on this outcome. ...
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Using a sample of 11,313 students in Grades 7 and 9 from the China Education Panel Survey, this study examines the effects of family social capital and family cultural capital on adolescents’ educational outcomes in the areas of academic effort, educational aspiration, and academic achievement. The results from structural equation modeling analyses showed that family social capital and family cultural capital had significant positive associations with adolescents’ educational aspirations. However, only family cultural capital had a significant positive association with academic effort, while family social capital showed a non-significant negative association, and both forms of family capital had significant negative associations with academic achievement.
... The works by Farkas, Grobe, Sheehan, and Shaun (1990), Roscigno and Ainsworth-Darnell (1999), and Dumais (2002) in the United States and those by Jaeger (2009) in Denmark, Yamamoto and Brinton (2010) in Japan, and Kraaykamp and van Eijk (2010) in the Netherlands showed significant relationships between cultural capital and academic achievement in their respective countries. In addition, the studies of Tramonte and Willms (2010) and Bodovski, Jeon, and Byun (2017), who measured the impact of cultural capital on academic achievement across different countries using data from the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, also support this relationship. ...
... The present study reached results similar to those of previous studies arguing that the possession of cultural capital has become an important factor determining academic achievement (Farkas, Grobe, Sheehan, & Shaun, 1990;Roscigno & Ainsworth-Darnell, 1999;Dumais, 2002;Jaeger, 2009;Yamamoto & Brinton, 2010;Kraaykamp & van Eijk, 2010;Tramonte & Willms, 2010;Bodovski, Jeon, & Byun, 2017;İnce, 2014;Atmaca, 2019;Arastaman & Özdemir, 2019). Similar to the results of our study, these studies have found that cultural capital has significant contributions to academic achievement. ...
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The main purpose of this study is to describe the cultural capital possessed by graduates of different types of high schools and how that capital shapes educational processes. Accordingly, the study focuses on the cultural capital of graduates of public and private high schools and the strategies they have implemented throughout their educational processes. The research problem of this study is the elucidation of the inequalities created by cultural capital between private and public high school graduates. The study was conducted with a multiple case design due to the qualitative methodology adopted. The sample of the study was selected using maximum variation sampling in accordance with the chosen qualitative method. A semi-structured interview form was administered to 45 participants, 23 of whom had studied in private high schools and 22 of whom had studied in public high schools. MAXQDA 2022 software was used to analyze the data. As a result, it was concluded that private high school graduates and their parents had more institutional cultural capital than public high school graduates. In terms of educational processes, it was observed that participants with higher levels of familial institutional cultural capital preferred schools providing high-quality education rather than schools located closer to home for enrollment. Therefore, it is recommended that state policies be established to remedy the deficiencies of students with low levels of familial cultural capital.
... As children from other social classes may also gradually acquire these cultural tastes, class differences in cultural capital should thus be most apparent in children at a very young age (Dumais, 2006). The bulk of empirical literature corroborates Bourdieu's argument and finds positive effects of cultural capital on the educational success of children (Lareau and Weininger, 2003;Tramonte and Willms, 2010;DiMaggio, 1982). Some studies, in contrast, do not find evidence that cultural capital predicts educational achievement (Katsillis and Rubinson, 1990) or, at least, has no lasting influence on the life course trajectory once secondary school has been completed (Georg, 2004). ...
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Does exposure to cultural capital in childhood—in other words, having access to and familiarity with norms of highbrow culture—affect wealth accumulation later in life? We use data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) to examine the relationship between various forms of cultural capital and wealth holdings in Austria. According to structural equation models, three indicators of cultural family background—the father’s educational attainment, the number of books in the parental household, and regular attendance of cultural activities at the age of ten—are positively correlated with net wealth. While education and income are key channels through which cultural capital affects wealth, we also observe direct effects in several specifications. The results are more marked within the over-50 cohort, suggesting that cultural capital’s role in wealth accumulation might have attenuated over decades of social change and educational expansion.
... Consequently, formal educational institutions become an extension of their habitus. On the other hand, students from lower-class backgrounds experience formal school arenas that have different habits than their homes and families, thus placing them in a disadvantaged position (Breinholt & Jaeger, 2020Jaeger & Møllegaard, 2017;Košutić, 2017;Nairz-Wirth et al., 2017;Reay*, 2004;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). ...
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Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology initiate Merdeka Belajar (Independent Learning) policy since 2020 to improve education quality. Education holds a crucial role in human capital development of nation to respond structural transformation challenges, global industrial revolution, and disruptive changes in many dimensions of human life. Indonesian education quality still needs to be improved, since the Indonesia 2018 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) rank in lower quartile compare with other 78 countries. Nadiem Makariem, the Education, Culture, Research and Technology minister, convey the discourse about Independent Learning through Endgame podcast series 113, hosted by Gita Wirjawan, an Indonesian investment banker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former Indonesian minister of trade. This study aims to analyse the podcast uses Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach to demystify ideology behind the policy through critical analysis of language, cognition, and social-cultural context, from macro (context) to micro (social cognition, ideology) level. Freire’s pedagogy of freedom and Bourdieu’s concept about social structure of educational system used as a framework. This study found that Independent Learning policy strive to break the social domination of banking education system that already practiced in Indonesian education and resulting in low quality of education that withheld the competitive index of Indonesian human capital. Symbolic violence and power in the education bureaucracy system hinder the implementation of the Independent Learning policy in Indonesian schools and universities, leading to resistance among stakeholders.
... Furthermore, the cultural capital of students from underrepresented backgrounds is not affirmed in the school curriculum (Claussen & Osborne, 2012;Goldenberg, 2013). Tramonte and Willms (2010) conducted a thorough analysis of multiple social mobility studies, which revealed that individuals' familial background and educational experiences play a significant role in determining their academic achievement and occupational success. Thus, it can be inferred that future outcomes for financial success hinge on the knowledge of how to be financially literate. ...
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Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is an educational framework that illustrates how to foster educational excellence through a focus on cultural competence, critical consciousness, and academic success, which aims to empower students by making education more applicable and responsive to their lived experiences (Ladson-Billings, 1995). This study elucidates the efficacy of CRP within financial literacy education, as implemented in a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) summer enrichment program. Our objective is to explore the extent to which CRP influences student perceptions of their personal finances through an understanding of financial literacy. Employing a qualitative methods approach, we reviewed transcripts, surveys, and student work from program participants, distilling salient themes that underscore the impact of CRP on financial literacy comprehension. Our findings reveal the critical role of CRP methodologies, particularly in tailoring content to resonate with student experiences and recognizing the cultural influences on financial behaviors. Additionally, we examine the challenges and opportunities encountered within a virtual paradigm, a shift necessitated by the exigencies of the pandemic. Despite the limited empirical studies on the nexus between CRP and financial literacy within educational frameworks, this article seeks to bridge this gap. We analyze the perspectives of students participating in the STEAM enrichment program to explore the impact of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) in a summer financial literacy program. This study takes place within the framework of '$mart Money’, a four-session summer program. The focus is to determine whether there is a discernible change in student perceptions about money.
... At the same time, the German education system is characterized by a low level of marketization (Gruijters et al., 2019), making higher education affordable and accessible and, thereby, reducing the importance of parental economic resources. However, upward educational mobility remains at a relatively low level, depending mostly on the cultural and social capitals of parents (Hillmert and Jacob, 2010;Stephany, 2019;Tramonte and Willms, 2010). The low importance of economic factors and the high significance of cultural capital make Germany a compelling environment for investigating cultural stratification, specifically the relationships between educational mobility and omnivorous taste. ...
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Cultural omnivorousness is widely studied as a dimension of the stratification of taste, related to class or status positions. However, taste is also structured by patterns of social mobility, especially educational mobility. Building on Lizardo’s Bourdieu, Distinction, and Aesthetic Consumption article, we expect that cultural omnivorousness systematically depends on patterns of educational mobility. Specifically, we predict that a higher inherited educational capital triggers a taste for less legitimate culture. Using survey data on tastes in music in Germany, we tested the effects of acquired and inherited cultural capital in predicting tastes for less legitimate cultural forms of taste at the level of genres and the effects of educational mobility in predicting cultural omnivorousness. Our results suggest that, first, the effect of parents’ education in predicting taste for less legitimate music genres is larger than the effect of the respondents’ own education. Second, the analysis reveals significant differences in omnivorous taste across segments of educational mobility groups. In general, there are three groups that show the highest omnivorousness: upwardly and downwardly mobile groups between middle and high positions and stayers in the high-level segment, whereas immobile individuals in the lower segment are the most univorous. Contrary to expectations, respondents with upward educational mobility who reach a high level of education accumulate omnivorous attitudes to a high degree. This study shows partial support for the statements of theory and proposes trajectories for future research.
... Bourdieu's concept of family cultural capital includes a range of non-financial social assets, such as educational attainment, linguistic competence, and intellectual development, that can contribute to one's social mobility, are closely related to students' educational trajectories, and have a strong impact on school belonging [2]. It was found that students who benefit from rich family cultural capital are more likely to resonate with school norms and curriculum, thus enhancing their sense of school belonging [3]. In summary, hypothesis H1 is proposed: Family cultural capital has a positive influence on school belonging. ...
Article
The study investigates the effect of family culture capital on school belonging, evaluating the mediating effect of home-school cultural dissonance and the moderating effect of academic self-efficacy through a moderated mediation model. A sample of 595 students from a Chinese university was recruited for the questionnaire survey. The results reveal that family cultural capital directly fosters school belonging and inversely predicts home-school cultural dissonance. Moreover, home-school cultural dissonance serves as a significant mediator, diminishing school belonging. Crucially, academic self-efficacy mitigates the negative impact of cultural dissonance on school belonging by acting as a moderating factor. The study underscores the positive effect of academic self-efficacy in enhancing school belonging., the imperative for educational institutions to address home-school cultural dissonance, and bolster students' academic self-efficacy to enhance their sense of school belonging.
... The OECD-PISA database contains significant information that can be useful for operationalising and measuring Cultural Capital. Indeed, some scholars have already used the PISA data in relation to Cultural Capital (Jaeger, 2009;Pitzalis & Porcu, 2017;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). Furthermore, among the variables available in the database, there are several related to the possession of ICT devices and their use, both in school activities and everyday activities. ...
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This article seeks to provide a clearer understanding of Digital Capital in education. It introduces a comprehensive analytical framework that explores the relationship between Digital Capital and Bourdieu's Cultural Capital Theory. Instead of treating digital skills and resources as separate entities, it integrates them into Cultural Capital Theory as complementary elements. This approach helps shed light on the disparities in ICT usage. Data from the 2018 OECD‐PISA survey conducted in Italy are analysed to assess whether Digital Capital can be considered a component of Cultural Capital. The findings indicate that differences in Cultural Capital do not significantly impact the possession and usage of digital assets. Instead, distinctions become apparent through students’ behaviours within the school environment. This underscores the connection between digital competencies and various dimensions of cultural and educational capital. The article posits that status and cultural disparities stem not solely from digital competencies but also from their interplay with social and cultural resources. This offers deeper insights into how the digital divide intersects with broader societal power dynamics.
... Gerçekleştirilen araştırmalar, düşük sosyo-ekonomik düzeye sahip öğrencilerin okuma ve yazma becerilerini geliştirmelerinde, akranlarına göre daha fazla zorlandıklarını ortaya koymaktadır (Beswick & Sloat, 2006;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). Bu çalışmanın da düşük sosyo-ekonomik düzeye sahip öğrencilerin yer aldığı bir bölgede yürütüldüğü ve çalışma sonucunda öğrencilerin okuma motivasyonlarının olumlu ve pozitif yönde etkilendiği göz önüne alındığında, okuma çemberlerinin bu bölgelerdeki öğrenciler için kullanılabilecek kritik bir yöntem olduğu söylenebilir. ...
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Bu araştırmada okuma çemberinin ilkokul dördüncü sınıf öğrencilerinin okuma motivasyonlarına olan etkisi ele alınmıştır. Mevcut araştırmada nitel araştırma desenlerinden eylem araştırması kullanılmıştır. Araştırma, 2019-2020 eğitim öğretim yılında Şanlıurfa ilindeki Eyyübiye ilçesinin bir devlet ilkokulunda gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu dördüncü sınıfa devam eden 5 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma süreci toplamda 12 haftada tamamlanırken bu süre zarfında öğrencilerle 6 okuma çemberi oturumu yapılmıştır. Okuma çemberi oturumlarının tamamı video kaydına alınmıştır. Ayrıca okuma çemberi oturumlarında araştırmacı tarafından çeşitli gözlem notları da tutulmuştur. Araştırmanın nicel verileri Okuma Motivasyonu Ölçeği’nden, nitel verileri yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmelerden, video kayıtlarından ve araştırmacının gözlem notlarından oluşturulmuştur. Araştırma kapsamında yapılan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmelerden elde edilen verilerin çözümlenmesi ve sunulmasında betimsel analiz yönteminden faydalanılmıştır. Nicel veri elde etmek amacıyla kullanılan Okuma Motivasyonu Ölçeği’ne verilen cevaplar, Wilcoxon İşaretli Sıralar Testi aracılığıyla analiz edilerek anlamlılık değeri p .043<.05 olarak bulunmuştur. Araştırmacı notları ve okuma çemberi oturumlarının video kayıtlarına bakıldığında ise yöntemin, katılımcıların okuma motivasyonlarına olumlu etkileri olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Hem görüşme formuna hem de araştırmacı gözlem notlarına bakıldığında katılımcıların rolleri içselleştirdiği ve kendileri ile okudukları kitaplar arasında bir bağ kurmaya başladıkları görülebilir. Ayrıca katılımcılar, yöntemini oldukça işlevsel, eğlenceli ve faydalı bulduklarını ve bu sayede okumaya olan ilgilerinin arttığını da dile getirmişlerdir.
... Moreover, inclusion [7] and Overseas experience can give people greater cognitive flexibility [8]. In addition, studying in the UK can also have a significant impact on the future development of international students, such as strong effects on students' schooling outcomes [9] and therefore choosing the UK as a great the following study will refer to Foundation. The Foundation programme at the University College London, which is mentioned in this paper, originated in 1991 [10] and is a system that accepts explicitly international courses that are not required for undergraduate study in the UK. ...
Article
While Chinese students now have a variety of pathways to higher education, research on individual Chinese students continues to rely on statistical forms of questionnaires, making it challenging to understand international students individually and examine their choices through several detailed influences. Few studies have been carried out that are more detailed and specific to Chinese students. It is, therefore, worth exploring how students from different walks of life make their higher education choices and the factors that influence them in greater depth. This paper reports the results of a comparative study of five Chinese students with different higher education choices using semi-structured interviews. The author will control for the influences of each interviewee to conclude. The paper also explores the experiences and considerations of several Chinese students in their choice of higher education. The paper argue that Chinese students’ choices are significantly related to both family circumstances and personal ability, with family social class and the educational attainment of the student’s parents having a significant impact on Chinese students’ higher education choices. In addition, the individual student’s strengths of thought and ability also contribute to their own decisions in higher education.
... De Graaf et al. (2000) explain that because of these patterns in both the home and the school, cultural capital surrounding education is institutionalized, rewarding those students who possess higher levels of cultural capital and propelling them towards higher levels of education. Meanwhile, Tramonte and Willms (2010) acknowledge that students with less cultural capital and fewer college-educated individuals in their social networks may not have access to the same level of cultural competence related to higher education and therefore may not have the same tools to pursue education with such ease. ...
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One issue that has received little attention is how students factor distance from home into their decisions about college. In this study, we used data from the Education Longitudinal Survey of 2002 (ELS:02) to examine the distances between a student’s home and the colleges to which they applied, and how far from home they enrolled. We focused on how demand- and supply-side factors were related to the distances applied and enrolled. We tested the sensitivity of our findings to alternative ways of measuring the supply of postsecondary education within commuting distance, and identified factors associated with differences between a student’s application and enrollment distances. Finally, we used quantile regression analysis to determine if the associations between demand- and supply-side factors and distances applied and enrolled varied along the distance distributions.
... The study also points out that the SES of a family, as a background feature of a class group, has a wide influence on the family dynamic process and individual behavior [18,19]. The SES of the family not only affects the individual development results but also affects the role of parents in the development of their children. ...
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This study examines the relationship between family socioeconomic status, parent-child activities, and young children’s digital development. Using the Family SES questionnaire, the parent-child activities questionnaire, and the 5 to 6 year old children’s number sense development scale as research instruments, 314 young children (M = 70.42, SD = 3.47). The results show that: (1) Family Socioeconomic Status can significantly positively predict the young children’s number sense development; (2) Parent-child activities play a partial mediating role in the relationship between family socioeconomic status and the young children’s number sense development. This study provides specific guidelines and recommendations for improving the young children’s number sense development.
... Connell et al., 1995). Employing Pierre Bourdieu's cultural capital theory, such conceptualisations hypothesise that children from lower socio-economic backgrounds exhibit lower engagement with education owing to a disconnect between their working-class cultural capital and the cultural capital requirements valued by the education system (de Moll et al., 2023;Gillies et al., 2010;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). ...
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There are few longitudinal studies of adolescent students’ choice to persist in post‐compulsory education. Hence, the present study introduces a longitudinal model that describes the interplay between sociological and psychological explanations of adolescents’ choice to persist in post‐compulsory education in the UK. Data on parental education, early childhood self‐regulation (age 5), sustained school engagement (ages 7, 11, 14) and persistence in education after the end of compulsory schooling (age 17) were utilised. The sample comprised 8333 (51.1% females, 89.5% white) children from the Millennium Cohort Study. Statistical analyses included state–trait modelling, longitudinal mediation and multigroup moderation. A trait–state–occasion model was run to disentangle the trait from state variance in school engagement. Afterwards, two hypotheses were formulated, namely the ‘instilment’ and the ‘differential’. The ‘instilment’ hypothesis involved a longitudinal predictive model, whereby parental education predicted early childhood self‐regulation which, in turn, predicted sustained school engagement which predicted students’ choice to persist. The ‘differential’ hypothesis examined whether higher vs. lower parental education changed the nature of the predictive relations between self‐regulation, sustained school engagement and persistence. The results were in favour of an ‘instilment’ hypothesis, whereby higher parental education was translated to higher levels of early self‐regulation which predicted higher sustained engagement, which, in turn, predicted greater probability of persisting in post‐compulsory education. The findings suggest a pathway from early childhood experiences to educational outcomes via the development of a trait of engaging with school.
... Studies in the literature have investigated speaking skill (Ahmad & Rozimela, 2013;Atli & Bergil, 2012;Ayrancı, 2016;Başaran & Erdem, 2009;Bircan, 2013;Doğan, 2009;Erdem & Erdem, 2015;Hamzadayı & Dölek, 2017;Khameis, 2006;Kusnierek, 2015;Lourdunathan & Menon, 2006;Sato, 2003;Uçgun, 2007;Vilimec, 2006). Other studies have investigated the effects of cultural capital on academic achievement (Andersen & Hansen, 2011;DiMaggio 1982;Gaddis, 2013;Jaeger, 2011;Lareau, 1987;Lee & Bowen, 2006;Roscigno & Ainsworth-Darnell, 1999;Tramonte & Willms, 2010;Wildhagen, 2009;Yamamoto & Brinton, 2010;Yaşar, 2016). However, there are no studies of speaking performance that examine how it is determined by cultural capital. ...
... Having a university-educated parent/guardian in Australia nearly doubles the chance of a child pursuing higher education (Patfield et al., 2020). Such parental influence also significantly affects students' academic outcomes (Harrell & Forney, 2003;Thayer, 2000;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). ...
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Research on transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991), particularly within the context of higher education, has demonstrated the significant impact university learning can have on a wide range of cohorts across diverse learning contexts. However, the extensive body of literature pertaining to transformative learning remains largely silent on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students and the extent to which their engagement with academia can be transformative. Nevertheless, Nakata’s (2007b) cultural interface theory has shaped policy, practice and thought in Indigenous higher education, elucidating the nuances, complexities and challenges that confront Indigenous students in their journey through university. In bringing together these two critical theories, this study investigated the journeys of three undergraduate Indigenous university students finding that university can indeed be a site of positive personal transformation. Such changes were fostered through critical peer support relationships, relationships with family and loved ones as well as a growing confidence and pride in their cultural identities. These findings have important implications for the way institutions support and teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and provides a nuanced insight into their university journeys at the cultural interface.
... This implies that habitus should be given primacy over cultural capital, but this has not been the case in much of the empirical research, which has concentrated on cultural capital, and specific aspects of cultural capital at that. Many researchers (Aschaffenburg & Mass, 1987;Dumais, 2002Dumais, , 2005Dumais, , 2006aDumais, , 2006bFlere et al., 2010, Tramonte et al., 2010Byun et al., 2012;Katsillis & Rubinson, 1990;Moss, 2005;Noble & Davies, 2009;Wildhagen, 2009) have taken a very narrow view of the markers of cultural capital and have utilized select markers, such as preferences, goods, and credentials that are concrete and simpler to measure, while ignoring the more abstract but equally important markers such as attitudes and behaviors. Utilizing the more tangible markers of cultural capital and ignoring the less tangible ones has created a fragmentary understanding of the concept, particularly within the quantitative scholarship. ...
Article
This paper describes my journey, as a teacher at a Canadian inner-city elementary school, toward conceptually understanding why many children at my current school repeatedly academically underachieve. I have utilized Bourdieu’s theory of practice as a heuristic to examine how social reproduction operates differently for school children from different social classes and leads to differences in achievement. The first component of this paper establishes a crucial theoretical base for practitioners by describing theory of practice and its key concepts of cultural capital, habitus, field, and symbolic violence, to explicate how social reproduction functions in education, highlighting the roles of institutions and professionals, and the transformative and generative potentials of Bourdieu’s theory. The second component provides important epistemological and methodological considerations regarding how practitioners might conduct successful empirical studies while avoiding the problems that are prevalent in existing empirical literature.
... The study emphasized that socioemotional issues, parenting stress, and parents' human capital investments all play a role in mediating the discrepancies. Tramonte and Willms (2010) investigated the cultural capital on students' academic and affective outcomes controlling the socioeconomic factors. They found that cultural capital has significant effects on reading literacy, a sense of belonging at school, and occupational aspirations. ...
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This research aims to examine the predictive relationship between the economic, social and cultural level index (ESCS) and academic achievement in the context of PISA 2018 Turkey sample. Research used secondary data analysis, a quantitative research method. In this regard, advanced analyzes were carried out in line with the new and different research questions on the data set obtained for the Turkish sample within the scope of PISA 2018. The sample of the research consists of 186 schools representing 12 regions and 6890 students representing these schools, which were selected in two stages by random stratified sampling from students in the 15-age group and continuing formal education in 2018. The findings revealed that the ESCS index is an important predictor of students' reading, mathematics and science scores in terms of both public and private schools. According to the findings, ESCS index explains greater variance in terms of academic achievement within the sample of private schools. The research also showed that the ICT resources index has emerged as a more effective predictor of academic success compared to the other sub-variables of ESCS such as educational resources index, parent education level and parent professional level.
... Debates on educational inequality often center on parental resources. However, students' ambition, educational aspirations, attitudes toward school, occupational expectations, and participation in class are equally important aspects of sociocultural reproduction and socioeconomic inequality in the school context (e.g., Barone 2006;Calarco 2011;Farkas 2008;Reardon and Portilla 2016;Tramonte and Willms 2010;Wildhagen 2010). Sociologists of education have long argued that educational institutions reward those dispositions (Bourdieu and Passeron 1990). ...
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Habitus plays a crucial part in Bourdieu's theory of sociocultural reproduction for understanding the persistence of inequalities in the education system. According to Bourdieu, students from homes that are heavily equipped with cultural capital develop a specific kind of habitus, that is, modes of perceiving, thinking, and acting, remarkably well‐adjusted to the expectations of teachers and educational institutions. However, research has rarely tried to measure what we refer to as students' academic habitus to highlight the different types of habitus that students might express toward school. Drawing on data from secondary students in Luxembourg, we employ a latent class approach to operationalize, measure, and explore students' academic habitus. Our investigation comprises three main steps: First, we develop a multifaceted understanding of students' habitus integrating diverse dispositions toward school and learning; second, we identify different academic habitus types: the habitus of excellence, the habitus of goodwill and loyalty, and the habitus of disengagement. Third, we examine how the three habitus types relate to different axes of inequality: socioeconomic status, cultural capital, family employment, gender, and immigrant background. Our typology of habitus bridges the qualitative literature on habitus with existing quantitative operationalizations. The findings show that students with a habitus of excellence are likely to hail from families with favorable parental employment and high cultural involvement.
... After Bourdieu, scholars Tramonte and Willms divided cultural capital into two forms: static and dynamic. Through analyzing data from 28 countries in PISA (2000), they found that dynamic cultural capital had a stronger impact on students' reading literacy, school belonging, and career aspirations (Tramonte, L., & Willms, J. D., 2010). ...
Article
Studying the relationship and interactive mechanism between family socio-economic factors, family cultural resources, extracurricular tutoring, and students’ academic performance can provide theoretical support and direction guidance for optimizing the allocation of educational resources and promoting the improvement of students’ learning quality. This study used PISA China (2015) data to select a sample of 9,841 students from 268 schools covering dozens of districts and counties, and explored the impact of family socio-economic factors, family cultural capital, and extracurricular tutoring factors on students’ academic achievement through a three-layer linear regression model. The study found that when only demography variables were included, it had no significant effect on predicting students’ academic achievements. When adding family socioeconomic group variables, family socioeconomic factors have a significant positive predictive effect on students’ academic performance, with family wealth contributing the most; After adding cultural resource group variables, the explanatory power of the model increased by 40.2%, indicating that cultural resource factors have a significant positive effect on students’ academic performance. Increasing cultural resource investment can have a positive effect on improving students’ academic achievement.
... The importance of 'belongingness' has been increasingly discussed in higher education, research, and policy as influencing the performance and wellbeing of students (Becker & Luthar, 2002;Reay et al., 2010;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). The consensus of literature defines student belongingness as the sense of being accepted, valued, included, and encouraged by others (Goodenow, 1993). ...
Article
A sense of belongingness in the underrepresented minorities (URM) collegiate requires that the student feel the university provide a safe and welcoming environment. The purpose of this study is to explore the sense of belongingness that contributes to URM’s perceptions while participating in the summer programs at Kansas State University to increase future college of agriculture enrollment. We evaluate participants using a Likert Scale survey to rate their perceived belongingness and experience upon completion of the summer program. Overall, results indicate the summer program increased the underrepresented minority participants’ sense of belongingness at Kansas State University because of the program coordinators, and exposure to an inviting environment. Additional findings show the program positively affected the collegiate experiences of the participants and increased their knowledge of the agricultural sciences.
... Because it is believed that the learning environment has a substantial impact on how well pupils read Hu (2014), the PIRLS framework Mullis et al. (2017) incorporates a considerable number of contextual variables in a range of situations relevant to primary students' reading at the student, teacher, and school levels. According to the PIRLS, some research focuses on numerous contextual variables that have an impact on fourth-graders reading proficiency Law (2009), Mullis et al. (2020), Park (2011), Cordero et al. (2017), such as the impact of students' attitudes toward reading on their reading performance at the student level Gnaldi et al. (2005), and the effect of a student's socioeconomic background on their family's reading performance ; Regarding the impact of educational policies, school resources, and student composition on students' achievements Tramonte and Willms (2010), Machin et al. (2013), Jing et al. (2015) at the school level. ...
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Based on the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Research (PIRLS) data, this study determined the contextual characteristics that distinguished Moroccan fourth-grade kids with high- and low-achieving reading abilities. The PIRLS 2016 public dataset included 5446 Moroccan pupils, with 1545 scoring well and 3901 doing poorly on the reading portion of the exam. The objective of the present research was to determine the ideal combination of significant contextual elements that jointly affect fourth-grade children’s reading ability. Machine learning technique such as gradient boosting was used to find the most critical contextual variables that might distinguish between the two groups of students. The findings demonstrate that 12 significant contextual variables from GradientBoosting, selected from 486 contextual variables at the levels of the student, teacher, and school, Identifying high- and low-performing students collectively have consequences for teaching and learning in the future about the reading ability of primary school students.
... However, although many studies have identified positive associations of social capital and cultural capital with educational outcomes in Western countries (e.g., De Graaf, De Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000;Jaeger & Møllegaard, 2017;Kalmijn & Kraaykamp, 1996;Katsillis & Rubinson, 1990;Roscigno & Ainsworth-Darnell, 1999;Tramonte & Willms, 2010), it would be naive to assume that they exert a similar influence on academic success in China, given varying socio-cultural values and education systems across different countries (Mendez, 2015). ...
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A large body of research has been dedicated to the study of relationships between social or cultural capital and educational outcomes in Western countries. However, few studies have examined these associations in a Chinese context, and even fewer have examined the effects of both forms of capital on educational outcomes simultaneously within a familial context in China. This study offers a reformulation of the associations between family social capital and family cultural capital on the educational outcomes of adolescents in both rural and urban China. Using the structural equation modelling approach and the China Education Panel Survey, this study sheds some new insights – the presence of significant compositional differences in both family social capital and family cultural capital between rural and urban Chinese adolescents, and differential effects of both forms of capital on educational outcomes were found. Family social capital presented larger positive effects on the academic effort and educational aspiration of rural adolescents while having no positive effects in facilitating the academic achievement of both rural and urban adolescents. Meanwhile, family cultural capital presented larger positive effects for urban adolescents on all educational outcomes as compared to their rural counterparts.
... Teachers' cultural capital is measured using a set of indicators measuring cultural participation. While cultural capital at the student level has been operationalised in various ways, such as familiarity with highbrow culture (Aschaffenburg & Maas, 1997;DiMaggio, 1982), reading climate (Cheung & Andersen, 2003;Gaddis, 2013;Moote et al., 2020), cultural communication (Jaeger, 2009;Tramonte & Willms, 2010) and extracurricular activities (Coulangeon, 2018;Covay & Carbonaro, 2010), the indicator used in this study is motivated by previous studies on cultural stratification and consumption in the adult population (for example, see Jaeger & Katz-Gerro, 2010;Katz-Gerro & Jaeger, 2013;Rössel, 2011;Sokolov, 2019;Yaish & Katz-Gerro, 2012). Specifically, I measure cultural capital using a summative index of five variables (α = 0.58) in which the teachers were asked how often they (1) visit a museum, (2) go to a concert or to the theatre, (3) go to the cinema, (4) listen to classical music and (5) go to the library, measured on a scale from 1 = 'Never' to 5 = 'Once a month' (see Figure A1 in the Online Appendix for the teachers' distribution on the index). ...
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Gender stereotypes in the natural sciences may discourage girls from pursuing STEM fields, thus contributing to the differential STEM pathways of males and females. This paper exploits quasi‐experimental data from a vignette study to investigate teachers’ gender bias in STEM at the transition to upper secondary school in Denmark—a key stage in students’ educational trajectories. I investigate if teachers have a higher probability of recommending a STEM track to a (vignette) male student compared with a (vignette) female student and if teachers’ STEM recommendations interact with their demographic characteristics. Results show that, while there is a gender gap of 10 percentage points in the likelihood of being recommended a STEM track, the difference is not statistically significant. Furthermore, teachers’ gender bias is influenced by the teacher's own gender and cultural capital. Consequently, the paper shows that teachers’ gender bias varies with teachers’ demographic characteristics and teachers with high levels of cultural capital can push back against gender stereotypes in STEM.
... The interesting point is the belief of experts in the prerequisite of social culture of sustainable development for the success of e-exhibition. Tramonte and Willms (2010) expressed that cultural capital is an essential requirement to have appropriate reforms. The finding is in line with Wei and Si (2017) who expressed the role of Chinese cultural tradition to promote sustainable development. ...
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In this paper, a survey and two multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) models have been employed to explore critical success factors of e-exhibition in 30 Chinese provinces that is divided into 8 different regions. The research findings showed that in China, the most important success factors of e-exhibition to have green economic recovery are the presence of International collaboration (0.592), green culture (0.490), and visitor’s attitude (0.439). Furthermore, “Beijing and Tianjin” is the most ideal region to promote e-exhibition in China. South Coast region ranked in second place as the most appropriate region for e-exhibition. The least ideal region of China for e-exhibition is the Southwest region that is less developed compared to other regions of China. The major practical policies are the enhancement of international cooperation to hold an e-exhibition, use of electronic exhibition capacities (synchronous and asynchronous) and creating social sustainability awareness through the media and social network.
... Turning to cultural capital, Lareau and Weininger (2003) argue that too much education research has interpreted cultural capital as amounting to knowledge of "highbrow" culture and instead emphasise "micro-interactional processes whereby individuals' strategic use of knowledge, skills, and competence comes into contact with institutionalized standards of evaluation" (Lareau and Weininger, 2003: 569). This is a more useful understanding of cultural capital both because elite and middle-class cultural tastes have become more omnivorous (Savage et al., 2013) and because it appears as though "beaux arts" participation is less important for academic success than other activities and practices of socialisation such as reading (De Graaf et al., 2000;Sullivan, 2001;Stopforth and Gayle, 2022) or cultural communication between parents and children -for example, discussions about school activities or books (Tramonte and Willms, 2010). ...
Thesis
Using ethnographic methods, my research investigates the “problem” of A-level underachievement in inner-city London, motivated by professional and personal concern about the consequences of underachievement. Whilst there is a long history and rich field of sociological research considering issues of educational engagement and achievement in relation to class, ethnicity, and gender (e.g. Willis, 2000; Gillborn and Youdell, 2000; Reay, 2006; Archer and Francis, 2007), very little research is focused on A-level students. At the time of starting my research, Inner London had seen dramatic improvements in its GCSE achievement and was the second-best-performing region in the country (out-performed only by Outer London). However, by several measures, it was the worst-performing region in terms of A-level achievement. This chimed with my professional experience in an inner-city London school achieving well above the national average in terms of GCSE results and far below the national average in terms of A-level outcomes. I carried out fieldwork in a school and a sixth form college, each in socio-economically deprived and ethnically diverse areas of inner-city London, and conducted in-depth interviews with 24 A-level students who had previously underachieved or were anticipated to underachieve. I draw on a range of sociological literature to understand my data, including using Bourdieu’s (1986) theoretical framework, whilst also drawing on wider educational literature. I consider a wide range of issues but argue that students’ learning careers and cultural capital are central to understanding their A-level engagement and achievement. My research makes a contribution to the sociological literature on education, drawing attention to the neglected and distinct educational phase of sixth-form.
... Different types of cultural capital can include aspirational capital, linguistic capital, familial capital, social capital, and resistant capital [36]. The dichotomy between students who are advantaged in mainstream cultural capital and those who are not could explain the achievement gap of those from diverse backgrounds [37]. To support instructors' use of students' cultural capital and bridge connections between cultural backgrounds, scholars have developed culture-based pedagogies to maintain and legitimize students' cultural identity while supporting their academic performance. ...
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Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) described in Ladson-Billings’ framework has three conceptions: conceptions of self and others, conceptions of knowledge, and conceptions of social relations. Instructors can support students with positive learning experiences when they are cognizant of all three conceptions. In 13 interviews of physics instructors about CRP, we found many instructors shared only two productive conceptions: conceptions of self and others and conceptions of social relations. However, we found two instructors who effectively described all three conceptions. Their conceptions of knowledge focused on physics knowledge as constructed, reconstructed, and in some aspects containing subjectivity. They both articulated a critical approach to examining the historical and contextual factors that influence physics learning today. Our findings indicate that instructors’ beliefs about the nature of science can be entangled with their own enactment of CRP and we show how a sophisticated epistemology can be one route to more culturally relevant instruction.
... Studies in the literature have investigated speaking skill (Ahmad & Rozimela, 2013;Atli & Bergil, 2012;Ayrancı, 2016;Başaran & Erdem, 2009;Bircan, 2013;Doğan, 2009;Erdem & Erdem, 2015;Hamzadayı & Dölek, 2017;Khameis, 2006;Kusnierek, 2015;Lourdunathan & Menon, 2006;Sato, 2003;Uçgun, 2007;Vilimec, 2006). Other studies have investigated the effects of cultural capital on academic achievement (Andersen & Hansen, 2011;DiMaggio 1982;Gaddis, 2013;Jaeger, 2011;Lareau, 1987;Lee & Bowen, 2006;Roscigno & Ainsworth-Darnell, 1999;Tramonte & Willms, 2010;Wildhagen, 2009;Yamamoto & Brinton, 2010;Yaşar, 2016). However, there are no studies of speaking performance that examine how it is determined by cultural capital. ...
... Other studies have also established that a family's cultural capital (i.e., parents' educational attainment) affects students' academic performance (Caprara, 2016;Huang & Liang, 2016). Students from homes with rich cultural capital have adequate access to resources, such as study books, Internet facilities, study rooms, libraries, computers, pictures, paintings and dictionaries (Schlee et al., 2009;Tramonte & Willms, 2010). This gives them absolute and comparative advantages to perform better than those from families with weak cultural capital. ...
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There are contradictory results regarding how students' learning outcomes can be predicted by various family and community inputs among previous studies, creating an evidence gap. Furthermore, previous studies have mostly concentrated on the cognitive aspect of students' learning outcomes, ignoring the affective and psychomotor dimensions, creating key knowledge gaps. Bridging these gaps, this predictive correlational study was conducted to understand how cultural capital, parental involvement (family inputs), support for schools, security network and school reforms (community inputs) jointly and partially predict students' overall, cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning outcomes in the context of Calabar Education Zone, Nigeria. A random sample of principals (= 78) and students (= 915) recruited through a multistage approach, participated in the study. Data were collected through the physical administration of three sets of questionnaires designed by the researchers. The psychometric properties of the questionnaires (such as validity, dimensionality, reliability and goodness of fit) were all analysed and found acceptable based on pilot data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 27 and AMOS version 26 software. Results from the main study proved, among others, that family inputs (family social capital and parental involvement) jointly and individually had a significant contribution to students' overall, cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning outcomes. Similarly, community inputs (support for school, security network and school reforms) have significant composite and partial contributions to students' overall, cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning outcomes in public secondary schools. This result implies that parents and host community leaders must strengthen their partnerships with secondary schools and contribute their quota to institutions' curricular and co-curricular activities.
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Cultural capital is a central concept in stratification research. Crucial to the Bourdieusian habitus, upper strata familiarity with the dominant culture is assumed to be ingrained via socialization, allowing its members to smoothly navigate educational institutions and higher segments of the labor market. Although cultural capital is deemed partially implicit, such “non-declarative” or “embodied” cultural capital has largely escaped empirical scrutiny; arguments about its importance are typically post hoc interpretations of associations between measures of declarative cultural capital (survey items on elite cultural consumption) and variables of interest. To advance stratification research, we developed tools to empirically capture non-declarative cultural capital: Implicit Association Tests (IATs) measuring (1) positive association and (2) self-identification with elite culture, embedded in a survey fielded among a high-quality panel representative of the Dutch population ( n = 2,436). We find our IATs validly measure non-declarative cultural capital. As expected, scores are only weakly coupled with declarative cultural capital, and associated with (parental) socioeconomic position. Using these IATs liberates non-declarative cultural capital from its deus ex machina status and answers the black-box critique of the Bourdieusian habitus as an explanation for socially stratified patterns across a range of fields.
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The difficulty of hiring suitable staff in rural areas has been particularly challenging for small gastronomic family businesses involved in tourism. Their human resources needs may include the ability of employees to tell stories about the business, including the family history, and to assist in maintaining its authentic image for visitors. This article explores the experiences of artisanal food or beverage tourism businesses with respect to employment of staff and draws on qualitative data from case studies of South Gippsland, Victoria in Australia and the UK’s Peak District. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with relevant stakeholders. Findings suggest that familiness played an important role in the way that many of these artisanal gastronomic businesses made their decisions to employ staff, linked to issues of authenticity and cultural capital. While employing non-family members to interact with visitors in public-facing roles was generally not a preferred option, these businesses may need to train and empower non-family staff to tell the family story in a convincing and acceptable way or pursue collaborations with other artisanal businesses to overcome the problem of staff shortages.
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The results of a secondary analysis of the empirical data collected during PISA 2018 on the sample of pupils from Serbia and Croatia are presented in this paper. Based on the theoretical model established by Pierre Bourdieu, we examined the effects of cultural capital in all three forms (objectified, embodied and institutionalized) on reading, mathematical and science competencies of pupils, measured through PISA tests. As a mediator of given variables, we put certain indicators of habitus, which is also one of the key concepts of Bourdieu?s theory. The indicators which were included are adjustment to the educational system and education expectations, specifically marked as educational habitus. The results showed positive effect of all tree forms of cultural capital on a specific type of competence, while education expectations are confirmed as a mediator between cultural capital and competences. A comparative analysis of Serbia and Croatia showed that there are some differences regarding objectified cultural capital and education expectations which have stronger effect on pupil?s competences on the sample from Croatia. The results of this research can be used for creating implications for educational policies which would be focused on obtaining cultural capital among pupils, therefore improving their competencies and, consequently, reducing social inequalities in education by more equal distribution of this form of capital.
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Este artigo analisa como as circunstâncias da infância explicam o resultado educacional para alunos do 5o ano do ensino fundamental no Brasil. Utilizaram-se dados do Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica (Saeb) 2017 e, como estratégia empírica, o generalized additive model (GAM) de Hastie e Tibshirani (1986; 1987; 1990) e o índice de desigualdade de oportunidades (IOP) de Ferreira e Gignoux (2014). Verificou-se que, quanto melhor o conjunto de oportunidades, maior o desempenho escolar. A decomposição do IOP revela a importância de novas variáveis de circunstâncias relativas aos hábitos culturais, à relação entre pais e filhos, e à escola, para a desigualdade de oportunidade educacional.
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English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has increased rapidly. This study adopts a Bourdieusian framework to investigate two research questions. First, it examines whether there is a change in the content learning of EMI business students over time. Second, it explores the connection between students’ social milieus and their academic performance in an EMI tertiary context. The study collects GPA scores and background survey data from EMI and Vietnamese-medium instruction (VMI) students over a two-year period. The findings reveal that EMI students experience a greater decline in learning when transitioning from year 3 to year 4, compared to VMI students. Additionally, students with higher levels of cultural capital, as measured by English entry grades and English private tuition time, experience a drop in their academic performance. From a Bourdieusian perspective, the EMI group lacks the necessary form of capital to reproduce their class privilege in relation to the VMI cohort over time. Theoretically, the study reinforces the notion that EMI serves as a mechanism of cultural reproduction that aligns with the unequal distribution of resources. Empirically, it contributes to the understanding of EMI’s impacts, and its implications for policy implementation in Vietnam and similar contexts.
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Este estudo visa validar a Escala de Capital Cultural nas Interações Familiares por meio de evidências de validade, centrando-se na estrutura interna do instrumento desenvolvido pelos autores. O capital cultural, conforme delineado pela teoria bourdiesiana, é considerado um conjunto de ativos culturais e sociais adquiridos no ambiente doméstico, e sua relação direta com o desempenho escolar dos alunos é destacada. Nessa análise, foi utilizado uma amostra de 11.795 alunos do 5° ano que responderam a um questionário. A coleta dos dados foi feita de forma eletrônica. A Análise Paralela indicou dois fatores: Capital Cultural Estático e Capital Cultural Relacional, com lambda 2 de Guttmam assumindo os valores de 0,702 e 0,845, respectivamente. Calcularam-se os índices UniCO = 0,787, ECV = 0,669 e MIREAL = 0,318. Foi realizado uma Análise Fatorial Exploratória e Análise Fatorial Confirmatória Parcial. Os índices de ajustes CFI = 0,946 e TLI = 0,935, e o índice de resíduo RMSEA = 0,053, as análises de consistência interna, de determinância e replicabilidade dos escores fatoriais nos indicaram evidências de validade para a utilização da Escala de Capital Cultural nas Interações Familiares.
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Although assessment theorists have long argued that assessment is a contextually located social practice, objectivist and psychometric discourses about assessment persist. The COVID-19 pandemic, in many contexts, unsettled and denaturalised assessment practices, creating a critical disruptive moment. This paper presents a reflection on what this moment might suggest about academics’ assessment beliefs and practices at a research-intensive institution in the Western Cape. Drawing on an institutional survey, we argue that dominant concerns about academic integrity and mark inflation surface discourses of assessment for certification and accountability. Exploring some examples of assessment practices during the emergency remote teaching period at the same institution, we highlight some factors that influence design. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, we contemplate the conditions of field and capital that create opportunities for change. We propose that change is contingent on the complex interplay of the capital and habitus of agents, as well as the nature of the field. We reaffirm the case for positioning assessment as a social practice, arguing that this enables the conditions for discussion, negotiation, and scrutiny on the purpose of assessments, what is being valued and not valued, and who is benefiting or being marginalised from particular assessment practices.
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Promoting education is a priority for most of the world’s governments, but, in some cases, beneficial access to school curricula and student achievement is influenced by the socioeconomic background. We investigate the influence of many aspects of the Italian socioeconomic background on school achievement, specifically on mathematical capabilities, at two school levels (primary and secondary) by using regional data over the period 2013-2019. Italy is a country with a solid scholastic tradition that, especially in the past, had a strong imprint mainly of humanistic and social culture. Investments are currently being made in human capital (HC), particularly in the scientific, mathematical and computer fields; however, the results vary according to region. The results show that in the central-northern regions, a virtuous circle of HC enrichment can be triggered, while in the southern regions, economic support is necessary. In addition, we observe that a sort of family safety net (a form of social capital) could play a positive role in sustaining the students’ learning efforts in the southern area. It seems that the different support for school education that underlies the Italian “North-South problem” is one of the causes of the gap in the local levels of HC development.
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In discussing what young people need in order to thrive in school and work environments, the existing education and workforce literature largely credits the types of social and cultural capital that are gained from middle-class upbringings, and rarely are working-class and low-income counterparts valued or considered conducive to achievement. In this research paper, we discuss how minoritized students from low-income homes described their first experiences in summer internships and their earliest memories related to work. Our student participants, 25 Bronx high school seniors, largely credited their guardians’ and family members’ work ethic (cultural capital) in working-class jobs as critical in their own motivational development. Our findings indicate that the experiences underrepresented youth have at home, through lessons and examples, lead to positive benefits and the development of certain forms of cultural capital, which can lead to academic success and occupational identity formation.
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In this paper, the critical success factors of sustainable education on the recovery of green energy resources in three countries, China, Japan, and India, were studied using a survey, hierarchical analysis, and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods. The research findings showed that in China, the most crucial success factors of sustainable education to have green energy recovery are green culture in society, international cooperation in teaching sustainable courses, and learner's attitude. In Japan, the success factors of sustainable education are different. According to experts, the learner's attitude, the presence of green culture in the society, and the support of government institutions related to the environment for this education are three essential success factors for sustainable development education. In India, the presence of green culture in the society, the support of government institutions related to the environment, and the teacher's attitude are the most critical success factors of sustainable education policy. The primary practical policies recommended by this research are promoting international cooperation, using electronic education capacities, and increasing green awareness through the media and social networks.
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O artigo apresenta resultados de um estudo que teve como objetivos conhecer a utilização nas atividades escolares de plataformas e tecnologias digitais por alunos portugueses, as dificuldades que identificam na sua utilização e compreender o efeito do nível de escolaridade do pai e da mãe nestas duas dimensões. Foi utilizado um inquérito por questionário a que responderam 2037 alunos do Ensino Básico e Secundário (6º, 9º e 12º anos de escolaridade), que frequentavam escolas localizadas em diferentes regiões de Portugal. Os resultados indicam que o nível de escolaridade da mãe está associado à utilização de plataformas mais diversificadas, a uma utilização mais frequente e à enunciação, pelos alunos, de maiores dificuldades em contexto pandémico.
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This study examines how social context, in this case, income inequality, shapes the role of cultural capital in educational success. First, we revisit the associations between (objectified) cultural capital and academic achievement, and cultural capital's role in mediating the relationship between family SES and academic achievement. More importantly, we explore how national‐level income inequality moderates these two relationships. By analyzing a multilevel dataset of 32 OECD countries, a combination of PISA 2018 data and several national indexes, we find that: (1) cultural capital not only has a positive association with students' academic achievement but also acts as a significant mediator of the relationship between family SES and academic achievement in OECD countries; (2) both cultural capital's association with academic achievement and it's mediating role are stronger in more equal countries than in unequal ones. The findings shed new light on understanding how cultural capital shapes intergenerational education inequality across countries with different levels of inequality.
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Scholars extensively tested cultural reproduction theory on the basis of different data and measurements in the western context. However, research on the relationship among embodied cultural capital, objectified cultural capital, and adolescent academic achievement and the underlying mechanisms in the Chinese education system is limited. To address this concern, we used the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) for 2013–2014 for analysis of the association and mechanisms. The findings suggested that despite the applicability of the signaling and skill mechanisms of embodied cultural capital in China, it remained negatively associated with academic achievement due to the Chinese examination-oriented education system. In contrast, objectified cultural capital was positively correlated with academic achievement. The signaling and skill mechanisms mediated the association between objectified cultural capital and academic achievement. Therefore, considering the education system when examining cultural reproduction theory is crucial.
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The concept of cultural capital has been increasingly used in American sociology to study the impact of cultural reproduction on social reproduction. However, much confusion surrounds this concept. In this essay, we disentangle Bourdieu and Passeron's original work on cultural capital, specifying the theoretical roles cultural capital plays in their model, and the various types of high status signals they are concerned with. We expand on their work by proposing a new definition of cultural capital which focuses on cultural and social exclusion. We note a number of theoretical ambiguities and gaps in the original model, as well as specific methodological problems. In the second section, we shift our attention to the American literature on cultural capital. We discuss its assumptions and compare it with the original work. We also propose a research agenda which focuses on social and cultural selection and decouples cultural capital from the French context in which it was originally conceived to take into consideration the distinctive features of American culture. This agenda consists in 1) assessing the relevance of the concept of legitimate culture in the U.S.; 2) documenting the distinctive American repertoire of high status cultural signals; and 3) analyzing how cultural capital is turned into profits in America.
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The study describes perceptions of the transition to ninth grade for low-income, urban, minority adolescents. Students who had a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in middle school were interviewed about their school transition. Results focus on perceptions of the transition, major challenges, sources of support, and coping strategies. Students who continued to perform well in ninth grade were differentiated from those who had academic difficulties. Students described the transition to high school as including new academic challenges, a more complex environment, new social demands, and new interactions with teachers. High performers mentioned fewer challenges than low performers. High performers received more support from their immediate family, and many had friends who supported their academic goals. Students described three kinds of coping strategies: individual (be dedicated, stay focused), academic (study, keep up with homework), and social (hang with the right people). Implications focus on supporting academic success for urban youth.
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The indicators of parental involvement in children's education vary considerably across studies, most of which treat parental involvement as a unidimensional construct. This study identified four dimensions of parental involvement and assessed the relationship of each dimension with parental background and academic achievement for a large representative sample of U.S. middle school students. The findings provide little support for the conjecture that parents with low socioeco- nomic status are less involved in their children's schooling than are parents with higher socioeconomic status. Furthermore, although schools varied somewhat in parental involvement associated with volunteering and attendance at meetings of parent-teache r organizations, they did not va'y substantially in levels of involvement associated with home supervision, discussion of school-related activities, or parent-teache r communication. Yet the discussion of school-related activities at home had the strongest relationship with academic achievement. Parents' participation at school had a moderate effect on reading achievement, but a negligible effect on mathematics achievement.
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Current concern with improving student academic progress within American education underscores the need to understand those manipulable influences that can affect academic learning. Parental involvement is considered an important influence on academic progress. Time spent on homework and in leisure TV viewing has an important effect on academic learning. Such time is potentially manipulable through parental effort. Using the massive High School and Beyond data set, the present study examines the direct effects of perceived parental involvement on grades. It also examines the indirect effect of such involvement on grades through TV time and time spent on homework. Parental involvement has an important direct, positive effect on grades. Additionally, parental involvement also leads to increased time spent on homework, which in turn has a positive effect on grades. The effect of parental involvement on grades through TV time appears negligible. In the current push for means to improve student academic progress, the potential effect of parental involvement in students’ academic and social lives should be considered.
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This meta-analysis reviewed the literature on socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement in journal articles published between 1990 and 2000. The sample included 101,157 students, 6,871 schools, and 128 school districts gathered from 74 independent samples. The results showed a medium to strong SES–achievement relation. This relation, however, is moderated by the unit, the source, the range of SES variable, and the type of SES–achievement measure. The relation is also contingent upon school level, minority status, and school location. The author conducted a replica of White’s (1982) meta-analysis to see whether the SES–achievement correlation had changed since White’s initial review was published. The results showed a slight decrease in the average correlation. Practical implications for future research and policy are discussed.
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Outlines the available literature to assist school districts in dealing with the at-risk student. The typical classroom and social characteristics of the at-risk student are described. A model plan is presented to help educators remediate academic and social deficits and prevent at-risk children from dropping out of school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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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.
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Current concern with improving student academic progress within American education underscores the need to understand those manipulable influences that can affect academic learning. Parental involvement is considered an important influence on academic progress. Time spent on homework and in leisure TV viewing has an important effect on academic learning. Such time is potentially manipulable through parental effort. Using the massive High School and Beyond data set, the present study examines the direct effects of perceived parental involvement on grades. It also examines the indirect effect of such involvement on grades through TV time and time spent on homework. Parental involvement has an important direct, positive effect on grades. Additionally, parental involvement also leads to increased time spent on homework, which in turn has a positive effect on grades. The effect of parental involvement on grades through TV time appears negligible. In the current push for means to improve student academic progress, the potential effect of parental involvement in students’ academic and social lives should be considered.
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This article provides the definition(s) of cultural capital and its theoretical context, with a particular focus on the relationship between cultural capital, schooling, and educational outcomes. An overview of Bourdieu's theory of social and cultural reproduction is given, focusing on the role of cultural capital. Empirical research on various operationalizations of cultural capital, both quantitative and qualitative, and various educational outcomes, are reviewed; research from multiple nations is represented. Past and current controversies regarding the cultural capital concept in educational research are discussed, as they are important directions for future research.
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Background Findings from several international studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between literacy skills and socioeconomic status (SES). Research has also shown that schools differ considerably in their student outcomes, even after taking account of students’ ability and family background. The context or learning environment of a school or classroom is an important determinant of the rate at which children learn. The literature has traditionally used school composition, particularly the mean SES of the school, as a proxy for context. Focus of Study This study examines the relationships among school composition, several aspects of school and classroom context, and students’ literacy skills in science. Population The study uses data from the 2006 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) for 57 countries. PISA assesses the knowledge and life skills of 15-year-old youth as they approach the end of their compulsory period of schooling. Research Design Secondary analyses of the data describe the socioeconomic gradient (the relationship between a student outcome and SES) and the school profile (the relationship between average school performance and school composition) using data for the United States as an example. The analyses demonstrate two important relationships between school composition and the socioeconomic gradient and distinguish between two types of segregation, referred to as horizontal and vertical segregation. The analyses discern the extent to which school composition and classroom and school context separately and jointly account for variation in student achievement. Findings The results show that school composition is correlated with several aspects of school and classroom context and that these factors are associated with students’ science literacy. Literacy performance is associated with the extent to which school systems are segregated “horizontally,” based on the distribution among schools of students from differing SES backgrounds, and “vertically,” due mainly to mechanisms that select students into different types of schools. Conclusions An understanding of socioeconomic gradients and school profiles for a school system is critical to discerning whether reform efforts should be directed mainly at improving the performance of particular schools or at striving to alter policies and practices within all schools. Both horizontal and vertical segregation are associated with lower student outcomes; therefore, we require a better understanding of the mechanisms through which students are allocated to schools. When the correlation of school composition with a particular contextual variable is strong, it calls for policies aimed at increasing inclusion or differentially allocating school and classroom resources among schools serving students of differing status.
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The indicators of parental involvement in children’s education vary considerably across studies, most of which treat parental involvement as a unidimensional construct. This study identified four dimensions of parental involvement and assessed the relationship of each dimension with parental background and academic achievement for a large representative sample of U.S. middle school students. The findings provide little support for the conjecture that parents with low socioeco-nomic status are less involved in their children’s schooling than are parents with higher socioeconomic status. Furthermore, although schools varied somewhat in parental involvement associated with volunteering and attendance at meetings of parent-teacher organizations, they did not substantially in levels of involvement associated with home supervision, discussion of school-related activities, or parent-teacher communication. Yet the discussion of school-related activities at home had the strongest relationship with academic achievement. Parents’ participation at school had a moderate effect on reading achievement, but a negligible effect on mathematics achievement.
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This study is concerned with determining the significance of achievement and ascriptive factors in the career mobility of graduate engineers. Difficulties regarding the measurement of relative "openness" of a social structure are pointed out; an attempt is made to overcome some of these difficulties by operationalizing Turner's ideal type notions of "sponsored" and "contest" mobility in the form of multivariate mobility channels. The findings offer support for both models, revealing the increasing effects of achievement variables such as grades, school selectivity, and recruitment emphasis on college achievement while at the same time showing the continuing effects of social origins and college prestige on such "contest" mobility. Examination of the most recent graduates points to the continuing influence of ascriptive criteria and to the declining effect of school-organizational variables. It is suggested that such findings may support the notion of a developing "credential" or "status" opportunity structure.
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IN RECENT years there has been considerable research concerning social factors influencing levels of occupational and educational achievement. Generally these studies assume (1) that occupational and educational achievement are influenced strongly by the person's level of occupational and educational aspiration, and (2) that these levels of aspiration are determined largely by the interpersonal situation within which the individual was socialized.
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I review studies of the roles played by cognitive skills and noncognitive traits and behaviors in stratification processes. Bowles & Gintis (1976) were among the first to argue that noncognitive traits and behaviors are more important than cognitive skills in determining schooling and employment outcomes. Now, 25 years later, these authors (Bowles & Gintis 2002) claim that the ensuing literature vindicates their position. There is much evidence for this claim, although it remains unresolved. I locate their discussion within the larger literature that has appeared during this time period. This literature provides an emerging interdisciplinary paradigm for the study of socioeconomic attainment, including differentials by social class, race, and ethnic background.
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This study seeks to reorient our understanding of the early educational determinants of social stratification outcomes. It focuses on the process and consequences of unequal cognitive skill attainment for ethnic and poverty groups within our nation's cities. It draws, theoretically, on the notion that experiences at home and school create a feedback loop by which the "cultural capital" of the students (their toolkit of skills, habits, and styles with which they construct strategies of action) evolves over time and largely determines differential success in mastering the teacher-assigned homework.
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Duncan's model of status attainment in the U.S. is used as a point of comparison for analyzing the process of educational attainment, using several American and English data sets. The overall amount of father-to-son mobility is very similar in the two countries, and so are the relative contributions of social origin and ability to the son's attainment. Although the two educational systems differ greatly, their division of pupils into academic and non-academic segments reflects almost identically the effects of social origin and ability. These findings are interpreted in relation to Lipset's analysis of the two countries' value systems and Turner's contrast between "sponsored" and "contest" mobility patterns. To a great degree, the two countries appear to use quite different mechanisms to bring about the same outcomes.
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Culture influences action not by providing the ultimate values toward which action is oriented, but by shaping a repertoire or "tool kit" of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct "strategies of action." Two models of cultural influence are developed, for settled and unsettled cultural periods. In settled periods, culture independently influences action, but only by providing resources from which people can construct diverse lines of action. In unsettled cultural periods, explicit ideologies directly govern action, but structural opportunities for action determine which among competing ideologies survive in the long run. This alternative view of culture offers new opportunities for systematic, differentiated arguments about culture's causal role in shaping action.
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Two theories are considered in accounting for the increased schooling required for employment in advanced industrial society: (a) a technical-function theory, stating that educational requirements reflect the demands for greater skills on the job due to technological change; and (b) a conflict theory, stating that employment requirements reflect the efforts of competing status groups to monopolize or dominate jobs by imposing their cultural standards on the selection process. A review of the evidence indicates that the conflict theory is more strongly supported. The main dynamic of rising educational requirements in the United States has been primarily the expansion of mobility opportunities through the school system, rather than autonomous changes in the structure of employment. It is argued that the effort to build a comprehensive theory of stratification is best advanced by viewing those effects of technological change on educational requirements that are substantiated within the basic context of a conflict theory of stratification.
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The economic analysis of wages took a variety of new turns during the 1980s, but none more important than the reinterpretation of wage gaps that were once viewed as discriminatory. At the beginning of the ’80s, wage gaps between minority groups and whites that could not be explained by differences in observable characteristics—such as years of schooling or experience in the labor market—were widely attributed to discrimination. By the end of the decade these unexplained wage gaps were being viewed as a reflection of underlying unobservable differences in human capital or “culture”.
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Integrating ideas from child development with sociological models of educational attainment, we examine the relationship between family structure--whether both parents are present in the household--and children's achievement in high school. Using data from the High School and Beyond study, sophomore cohort, 1986, we ask whether differences in achievement are accounted for by differences in parents' educational aspirations and parenting styles. Children who live with single parents or stepparents during adolescence receive less encouragement and less help with school work than children who live with both natural parents, and parental involvement has positive effects on children's school achievement. Differences in parental behavior, however, account for little of the difference in educational attainment between children from intact and nonintact families.
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This paper summarizes a qualitative study of family-school relationships in white working-class and middle-class communities. The results indicate that schools have standardized views of the proper role of parents in schooling. Moreover, social class provides parents with unequal resources to comply with teachers' requests for parental participation. Characteristics of family life (e.g., social networks) also intervene and mediate family-school relationships. The social and cultural elements of family life that facilitate compliance with teachers' requests can be viewed as a form of cultural capital. The study suggests that the concept of cultural capital can be used fruitfully to understand social class differences in children's school experiences.
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An intervention designed to increase the reading skills, habits, and styles of low-performing elementary school students was implemented in the Dallas Independent School District (Texas). The issues surrounding implementation illustrate many of the problems of inner-city schooling and disadvantaged students and offer some solutions. The Reading One-One tutoring program was developed with the Reading Recovery and Success for All programs successfully used in other districts as models. The discussion attempts to integrate paradigms of human capital and human culture to create a new paradigm that defines culture as skills, habits, and styles and posits a view in which parental skills, habits, and styles determine the cognitive skills of their children. The first two chapters examine human capital and human culture and cognitive skills. Chapter 3 demonstrates the important role of family linguistic culture in a child's cognitive skill development, and Chapter 4 shows how cognitive skills determine future earnings. Chapters 5 through 9 use data from the Dallas schools to analyze the ways in which cognitive skills, habits, and styles determine coursework mastery and grades. Part III focuses on intervention, reporting on the development and implementation of Reading One-One. An appendix discusses the methodology of constructing a table of reading comprehension scores for intervention students. (Contains 4 figures, 45 tables, and 187 references.) (SLD)
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An analysis of the achievements of a large sample (4,388) of Wisconsin men during the 10 years following their 1957 high school graduation focuses upon their educational attainments, occupational achievements, and in particular, earnings, in terms of their social origins. Analysis uses a recursive structural education model of achievement. Seven chapters include: The Socioeconomic Achievement Process, providing background information; The Longitudinal Study: Data Sources and Quality, discussing methodological problems and procedures; Socioeconomic Background, Ability, and Achievement, applying a modified model in analyzing socioeconomic influences on the achievements of the sample group; Social Psychological Factors in Achievement, examining their role as variables; Colleges and Achievement, interpreting the effects of colleges on occupation and earnings; Post-High School Earnings: When and for Whom Does "Ability" seem to Matter?, discussing particular circumstances; and, Summary and Conclusions, discussing findings and future research plans. The 1957 questionnaire, the 10-year follow-up questionnaire, characteristics of the social security earnings data, and coverage of male Wisconsin youth in the 1957 survey are appended. Tables supplement the discussion, and the document is indexed. It is stated that the pattern of the achievement process elaborated on by the analysis can be generalized to other areas, and the nation as a whole. (LH)
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This study investigated whether the impact of 3 types of family decision making on the adjustment of 14–16-year-old youth was moderated by ethnicity, community context, or both. For joint and unilateral youth decision making, community context interacted with ethnicity in 3 patterns of influence: for Hispanic-American youth, variations in decision making had a stronger impact in ethnically mixed than in predominantly white communities; for African-American youth, the negative impact of unilateral youth decision making was stronger in predominantly white communities; and for Asian- and European-American youth, community context did not make a difference. For unilateral parental decision making, the popular hypothesis that apparent ethnic differences in the influence of parental strictness on adolescent adjustment are primarily due to differences in community context was not supported. Rather, the positive impact of unilateral parental decision making was similar among African-American youth living in predominantly white, and more affluent, communities or in more disadvantaged, ethnically mixed neighborhoods. The negative impact of authoritarian parenting was similar among European-American youth living in less advantaged communities as well as more affluent ones. There was no relation between unilateral parental control and adolescent adjustment of Asian- or Hispanic-American youth in either type of community.
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This article examines the impact of authoritative parenting, parental involvement in schooling, and parental encouragement to succeed on adolescent school achievement in an ethnically and socio-economically heterogeneous sample of approximately 6,400 American 14–18-year-olds. Adolescents reported in 1987 on their parents' general child-rearing practices and on their parents' achievement-specific socialization behaviors. In 1987, and again in 1988, data were collected on several aspects of the adolescents' school performance and school engagement. Authoritative parenting (high acceptance, supervision, and psychological autonomy granting) leads to better adolescent school performance and stronger school engagement. The positive impact of authoritative parenting on adolescent achievement, however, is mediated by the positive effect of authoritativeness on parental involvement in schooling. In addition, nonauthoritativeness attenuates the beneficial impact of parental involvement in schooling on adolescent achievement. Parental involvement is much more likely to promote adolescent school success when it occurs in the context of an authoritative home environment.