Family Capital, Learning Engagement, and Students' Higher Education Gains: An Empirical Study in Mainland China.

Shutao Wang,Cui Huang

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111571

Shutao Wang, Cui Huang

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111571

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Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether learning engagement plays a mediating effect on the relationship between family capital and students’ higher education gains in mainland China. We used family capital, learning engagement, and higher education gains as measures and analyzed data using a structural equation model. Data were collected from 1334 students at a Chinese university. The results show that family cultural capital had the most significant effect on students’ learning engagement, while economic capital also played a positive role, and social capital had no significant impact. Learning engagement played a mediating role in the relationship between cultural capital and higher education gains, as did the relationship between economic capital and higher education gains. However, learning engagement did not have a mediating effect on the relationship between social capital and higher education gains. Our results show that we should focus on the importance of students’ learning engagement, improve the cultural capital of disadvantaged groups, and provide financial support for students from low-income families.

Highlights

Usually including economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital, is an important measure of disparities between different social strata and is an important consideration when studying the educational achievements of students from different social backgrounds [1]
Previous studies have focused on the influence of family capital of people from different social strata on higher education enrolment opportunities, mainly in the following two ways: (1) by exploring the disparities of social strata and focusing on the ways in which the specific factors of economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital affect enrolment in higher education institutions [5]; and (2) by measuring the enrolment rates for higher education in each stratum and comparing the ability of people from different social strata to acquire higher education opportunities [6]
A significant positive correlation was found between economic capital and learning engagement (r = 0.156, p < 0.01), followed by the correlation between cultural capital and learning engagement (r = 0.208, p < 0.01)

Summary

Introduction

Usually including economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital, is an important measure of disparities between different social strata and is an important consideration when studying the educational achievements of students from different social backgrounds [1]. Previous studies have focused on the influence of family capital of people from different social strata on higher education enrolment opportunities, mainly in the following two ways: (1) by exploring the disparities of social strata and focusing on the ways in which the specific factors of economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital affect enrolment in higher education institutions [5]; and (2) by measuring the enrolment rates for higher education in each stratum and comparing the ability of people from different social strata to acquire higher education opportunities [6] Research in this area has not yet produced a model that can explain the specific mechanisms behind the influence of family capital on students’ higher education gains. A simple affirmation of the effect of family capital is not sufficient; we must seek to understand the specific role, process, and mechanism of this effect

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