Applying Bourdieu's Concepts of Social and Cultural Capital in Educational Research in Greece and Cyprus

Abstract

This chapter examines the application of the concepts of social and cultural capital in empirical research seeking to provide explanations for educational processes relating to post-secondary school choice making in contemporary Cyprus and parents’ aspirations in relation to their children’s educational and occupational prospects in Greece. It argues that Bourdieu’s work is a valuable source of ideas and concepts that provide the framework for quantitative investigations on a number of educational and sociological issues, particularly those that refer to social and cultural reproduction. Moreover, it addresses the criticism that is often associated with the limitations of quantification. This criticism asserts that quantitative techniques often do not explore with sufficient subtlety the social dynamics that are produced by the social contexts within which social action (i.e. educational choice making) occurs.