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Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment

Alice Sullivan

Nuffield College Oxford

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.

Key Words: attainment • cultural capital • education • gender • inequality • social class.

Sociology, Vol. 35, No. 4, 893-912 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038501035004006
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