Why Does Cultural Capital Matter for High School Academic Performance? An Empirical Assessment of Teacher-Selection and Self-Selection Mechanisms as Explanations of the Cultural Capital Effect

Abstract

Many scholars have argued that students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic performance because students with cultural capital have better relationships with their teachers (the "teacher-selection" effect). However, theory also points to the importance of a "self-selection" effect, whereby students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic performance by enhancing students' expectations for future educational attainment. Using National Education Longitudinal Study data, I estimate structural equation models to empirically assess the extent to which teachers' perceptions of students and educational expectations act as mechanisms of the cultural capital effect on grades and standardized test scores. The results show that, contrary to theoretical expectations, teachers' perceptions do not mediate the effect of cultural capital on academic performance. However, educational expectations account for portions of the cultural capital effect on grades and test scores.

Cultural capital, teacher bias, and educational success: New evidence from monozygotic twins

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Structural racism as the fundamental cause of the academic achievement gap

“…A second mechanism that sociologists have investigated is differences in family cultural resources (Cavanagh & Fomby, 2012;Cheadle, 2008;Dumais, Kessinger, & Ghosh, 2012;Lareau, 2002;Lleras, 2008a;Potter & Morris, 2017;Puccioni, 2015;Roksa & Potter, 2011;Wildhagen, 2009;Yeung & Pfeiffer, 2009). Family cultural resources have been operationalized in a variety of ways including parenting practices (e.g., reading to children), educational resources (e.g., having a computer in the home), beliefs and attitudes (e.g., expectation that child will attend college), or engagement with schooling (e.g., attending PTA meetings).…”

The Relationship Between Maternal Education and Children's Academic Outcomes: A Theoretical Framework

“…The most well‐researched explanation for how children's cultural capital influences their academic outcomes is that children are rewarded by educational gatekeepers who misinterpret children's knowledge of art and music as intelligence (Paths i and j ). Indeed, participation in high‐culture activities has been associated with teacher‐reported academic outcomes for children and adolescents in a number of studies that have adjusted for other factors, including SES and ability (Dumais, ; Rosigno & Ainsworth‐Darnell, ; Wildhagen, ). Moreover, cultural engagement is formally sanctioned as desired by educational institutions because participation in extracurricular activities is a factor in admission to selective universities (Stampnitzky, ).…”