Family Cultural Capital Influence on Educational Expectations and Class Differences

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of cultural capital on family educational expectations based on data from the CFPS(China Family Panel Studies). After controlling for control variables such as gender and household registration, it was found that: objectified cultural capital, institutionalized cultural capital and embodied cultural capital all have a significant positive effect on family educational expectations. In addition, there is no significant class difference in the effect of cultural capital on family educational aspirations, but objective and specific cultural capital have a more significant effect on the educational aspirations of the upper class than those of the lower class, and objective and specific cultural capital are more influential within the upper class. In the context of education for upward class mobility, identifying the cultural capital shortcomings of the disadvantaged class that are inferior to those of the upper class and enhancing the educational expectations of families are key to promoting class mobility. Therefore, families, schools and society need to provide support in many ways to compensate for the cultural capital disadvantage of families.