Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment
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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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Books in the home and children's reading behaviour, but not 'beaux arts' participation, help to explain social differentials in children's outcomes.
“Past studies have also found that books in the home and children's reading behaviour, but not 'beaux arts' participation, help to explain social differentials in children's outcomes (De Graaf et al. 2000; Sullivan 2001) (Cheung & Andersen 2003; Georg 2004; Jaeger 2011; Sullivan 2001).”
From Reading for pleasure and progress in vocabulary and mathematics (2015) · cites this paper as Sullivan 2001
The Methodology passage says that parental cultural capital includes the number of books in the home. Section 4.3 reports that parental cultural capital partly mediates social-class differences in GCSE attainment, while reading is significant and participation in formal culture is not. The paper does not establish a separate effect of books in the home on those differences. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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References 23 · Cited by 911
Research works printed but not linked: 18
- BOURDIEU, P. 1974. The School as a Conservative Force. In Eggleston, J. (ed.) Contemporary Research in the Sociology of Education. London: Methuen.
- BOURDIEU, P. 1977. Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction. In KARABEL, J. and HALSEY, A.H. (eds.) Power and Ideology in Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- BOURDIEU, P. and BOLTANSKI, L. 1981. The Education System and the Economy. In LEMERT, C.C. (ed.) Rupture and Renewal Since 1968. New York: Columbia University Press.
- CROOK, C.J. 1997. Cultural Practices and Socioeconomic Attainment: The Australian Experience. Westport, Conneticut: Greenwood Press.
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- DE GRAAF, P.M. 1988. 'Parents' financial and cultural resources, grades, and transition to secondary school in the Federal Republic of Germany.' European Sociological Review. 4, 3: 209- 221.
- DIMAGGIO, P. 1982. 'Cultural Capital and School Success'. American Sociological Review 47: 189-201.
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- GRAETZ, B. 1988. 'The Reproduction of Privilege in Australian Education'. British Journal of Sociology 39,3:358-76.
- HALSEY, A.H., HEATH, A. and RIDGE, J. 1980. Origins and Destinations. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- JONSSON, J.O. 1987. 'Class Origin, Cultural Origin and Educational Attainment'. European Sociological Review 3, 3: 229-42.
- KATSILLIS, J. and RUBINSON, R. 1990. 'Cultural Capital, Student Achievement and Educational Reproduction'. American Sociological Review 55, 2: 270-279.
- LEVY, P. and GOLDSTEIN, H. 1984. Tests in Education. London: Academic Press.
- MACKINNON, D., STATHAM, J. and HALES, M. 1995. Education in the UK: facts and figures. Buckingham: Open University Press.
- ROBINSON, R. and GARNIER, M. 1985. 'Class Reproduction among Men and Women in France'. American Journal of Sociology 91, 2: 250-58.
- SULLIVAN, A. 2000. Cultural Capital, Rational Choice, and Educational Inequalities. D.Phil. Thesis, Oxford University.
- WAQUANT, L.J.D. 1989. 'Towards a Reflexive Sociology: A Workshop with Pierre Bourdieu'. Sociological Theory 7, 3: 26-63.
- Authors
- Sullivan, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Sullivan, Alice
- ORCID
- Sullivan, Alice
- Venue
- Sociology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2001-11
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 893-912
- ISSN
- 0038-0385 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8684
- OpenAlex
- W2159310954
- Cited by
- 911
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 45 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 58 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 58
- FWCI
- 41.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- discovery.ucl.ac.uk
- Locations
- Sociology (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- IOE EPrints (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Sociology and Education Studies
- Keywords
- cultural capital, educational attainment, cultural reproduction, Pierre Bourdieu, social class, intergenerational transmission, parental cultural capital, secondary education
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