Social Class, Cultural Capital, and Help-seeking on Elite College and University Campuses

• In Event: 1483 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 08. Race, Class, and Social Capital Among Millennials

Abstract

Scholars of inequality have long argued that class and culture intersect to create educational inequalities. In recent years, ethnographic studies of children have established a link between social class and cultural capital, arguing that parents transmission of cultural capital to their children affects educational opportunities and outcomes. Help-seeking behaviors in particular have come to be recognized as important to children’s educational outcomes. Scholars have argued that the class-based ‘tool kits’ children develop influence when and how they seek help in elementary and secondary schools (Calarco 2011, for example). Less well-understood is how class and cultural capital can affect help-seeking behaviors in college. This study seeks to understand this relationship. Using data obtained from students at elite colleges and universities, preliminary analyses indicate that social class significantly affects cultural capital attained during the senior year of high school and that this cultural capital, in turn, affects help-seeking behaviors in college.

Author

• Felicia Helvey