Cultural Capital and Status Attainment: An Empirical Study Based on Data from Shanghai

Abstract

文化资本是影响个人教育获得和社会地位获得的重要因素。基于2008年上海市社 会结构调查数据, 从广义文化资本出发, 分别测量父母和子女文化资本对地位获得的 作用。研究发现: 父母和子女文化资本存量越高, 子女受教育年限越长; 子女文化资 本对地位获得具有显著影响; 在控制性别、父亲职业等变量后, 文化资本越多, 越有 可能进入更高阶层; 教育、家庭文化氛围和文化投资对地位获得具有持续且稳定的作 用; 文化资本是社会下层实现向上流动的有效手段。 关键词: 文化资本 教育 社会地位 Cultural capital plays an important role in individuals’ educational and status attainment. On the basis of data from the Shanghai Social Structure Survey of 2008 and from the perspective of broadly defined cultural capital, this paper measures the role of cultural capital of parents and children in the acquisition of social status. The findings are as follows: (1) Higher stocks of cultural capital on the part of parents and children mean more years of schooling for children. (2) Children’s cultural capital has a significant influence on their status attainment. (3) Controlling for variables like gender and father’s occupation, the more cultural capital one has, the more likely one is to enter a higher stratum. (4) A family’s education, cultural ambience and cultural investment have a sustained and stable impact on status attainment. (5) Cultural capital provides an effective way for the lower strata of society to achieve upward social mobility.