Cultural Capital and Educational Achievement Across Immigrant Generations

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 26. Cultural Reproduction and Transmission in Educational Settings

Abstract

This study examines whether the forms and returns of cultural capital differ across immigrant generations. Using U.S. PISA 2018 data (n = 4,436), it analyzes reading literacy across four groups: natives, first-generation students, second-generation with two immigrant parents, and second-generation with one immigrant parent.

Three forms of cultural capital are examined: reading habits (home-cultivated practices aligned with school expectations), parental academic support (goal-directed involvement reflecting Lareau's 2003 concerted cultivation), and parental higher education (institutionalized credentials signaling institutional alignment).
Regression models are estimated for the full sample and by generational group, accounting for PISA's complex survey design using balanced repeated replication weights.

Across all groups, reading habits and parental higher education consistently predict higher reading literacy, indicating that home-cultivated practices and formal credentials function as transferable resources across migratory contexts. However, returns to parental academic support vary by generational status.
For first-generation students, speaking the test language at home and family wealth are especially salient, suggesting settlement conditions play a foundational role, while parental academic support does not reach significance.

Among second-generation students with two immigrant parents, reading habits and parental higher education remain significant, while parental academic support does not consistently predict performance. Parents not educated in the host country may still lack full familiarity with school norms, limiting the effectiveness of their involvement.
For mixed-generation students, reading habits and parental higher education remain significant, while parental academic support does not independently predict performance despite expected institutional familiarity. This pattern warrants further investigation.
These results indicate that the efficacy of cultural capital is shaped by migratory context and generational position rather than being a fixed resource with uniform returns.

Author

• Tatiana Chirkina, Michigan State University