Remnants of the Past: Early Cultural Capital Cultivation and Later Sense of Personal Control

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 14: Power, Identity, and Civic Engagement: Exploring Education Beyond the Classroom

Abstract

To what extent does early cultural capital cultivation contribute to later inequalities in educational attainment? This paper argues that early cultural capital leads to a greater sense of control over one’s life, which in turn matters for educational attainment. I examine two types of cultural capital—participation in high-status cultural activities and cultivation of middle-class dispositional skills. I also examine if the returns to cultural capital depend on one’s social class background. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, I test for direct relationships between cultural capital cultivation and sense of control. I find evidence that cultural capital cultivation at age 13 is only positively associated with sense of control at age 18 for students from families of high socioeconomic status. Furthermore, I do not find evidence that cultural capital cultivation at a later age (age 18) is associated with sense of control at age 18. I discuss the implications of these findings in relation to the literature on how cultural capital reproduces social inequality.

Author

• Jiarui Liang, Yale University