An Active Investment in Cultural Capital: Structured Extracurricular Activities and Educational Success

• In Event: Reproduction of Educational Inequalities by Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Language

Abstract

With data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this paper used propensity score matching to investigate the effects of participation in structured extracurricular activities on students’ educational success. The main findings: (1) high SES students were more likely to participate in extracurricular activities than working-class children. Additionally, the participants possessed more cultural and educational resources than non-participants. (2) Participation in extracurricular activities had no direct positive impact on eighth grade students’ cognitive ability and academic performance. (3) Involvement in extracurricular activities did not seem to lead students to form supportive friendships or derive favourable judgement from teachers. Our findings suggest that the traditional cultural reproduction model does not apply to a context characterised with high-stakes testing system, like China.

Authors

• Minda Tan, Shandong Normal University

• Liangliang Cai, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Katerina Bodovski, The Pennsylvania State University