Socio-economic status and education
Effects of Socio-Economic Status[edit]
Education[edit]
Socio-economic status is an influential factor in a student’s educational experience and success. Economic capital, cultural capital, social capital, and individual traits and behaviors stem from one's socio-economic background.
Economic Capital[edit]
Economic capital, or how much money, property, and assets one accumulates is directly correlated with educational benefits. Areas with a high concentration of economic capital will have more educational funding because the funding is coming from property taxes.[1] Areas with low economic capital and less property tax due to cheaper housing will have less funding for their schools.[1] Economic capital provides access to a place in the home designated to study, resources that help promote learning, and a safety net to fall back on if family problems arise.[2]
Cultural Capital[edit]
Cultural capital refers to one’s knowledge of the dominant culture, language use, and behavior styles.[3] The amount of cultural capital one has is highly correlated with parental cultural capital. [3]Pierre Bourdieu’s research suggests that middle-class families who have more cultural capital have an advantage when obtaining educational credentials.[3] Bordeau explains that teachers reproduce inequality by assessing students with bias and allowing the dominant culture to be assimilated into the educational system as preferred behaviors.[3]
Individual Behaviors[edit]
Students’ classroom behaviors play a role in the reproduction of inequality. Behaviors often result from the common parenting styles adopted by certain socio-economic classes. Lareau describes middle-class parents often adopt the “concerted cultivation” parenting style where they put their children in age-oriented organized activities which are thought to produce important life skills, emphasize the use of language and reasoning skills, stress individual performance, and consequently produce a sense of entitlement among their children.[4] Lower-class families parenting styles often aim at the “accomplishment of natural growth” where they provide their children with the means to thrive such as food, safety, and love, and are firmer when giving direction or discipline, which in turn produces a sense of constraint.[4] Feelings of entitlement make middle class children more likely to ask for help directly and promptly, which leads to an advantage on assignments, more help from teachers, and less time spent waiting for the teacher.[5]
Students with higher SES indeed tend to have higher GPAs, but whether or not this is due to cultural capital attainment is still controversial.[6] The difference in educational success seen between socio-economic classes can be determined by the aspirations held for white collar jobs. Having aspirations for white collar jobs provided a positive and significant effect on education, producing an increase of .196 points in GPA. Participating in a cultural activity has shown a much less significant increase in GPA of .013 points.[6]
Social Capital[edit]
Social capital is the ability to gain membership into a social network through social interactions. Inequality is reproduced through the differences in social capital that each student has. Social capital can manifest itself in different forms including what one is expected or obliged to do, one’s access to information, and social norms.[2] Access to certain networks has been shown to be beneficial. The beneficial effects of existing relationships among adults and students outside of school were shown in a study which observed lower drop-out rates for those who attended a catholic school who frequented religious events compared to those who did not attend religious events often and those who attended a private school without access to the same interactions with adults outside of school.[2] Similar effects were seen among denominations of other religions.[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dormont, David (1993). "Separate and Unequal: School District Funding". Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice. 11 (1): 263.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Coleman, James S. (1988). "Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital". American Journal of Sociology. 94: S95–S120.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Sullivan, Alice (November 2011). "Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment". Cambridge Core. 35 (4).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lareau, Annette (2011). Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. University of California Press. p. 443. Search this book on
- ↑ Calarco, Jessica McCrory (2014). "Coached for the Classroom: Parents' Cultural Transmission and Children's Reproduction of Educational Inequality". American Sociological Review. 79 (5): 1034.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dumais, Susan A. (January 2002). "Cultural Capital, Gender, and School Success: The Role of Habitus". American Sociological Association. 75 (1): 55.
Effects of Socio-Economic Status[edit]
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