Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction Thesis and The Role of Cultural Capital in Educational Attainment: A Critical Review of Key Empirical Studies

This critical review examines key quantitative evidence in studies regarding the role of cultural capital in the links between family social class, teachers, schools and students’ educational outcomes as specified in Bourdieu’s social reproduction thesis. Cultural capital is assumed to be one of the central family-based endowments whose social class value impacts offspring intergenerational educat…