Within-Track Differentiation and Leisure Activities as Strategies of Distinction

Abstract

The socially inclusive educational expansion during the last few decades in Germany diluted the previous “elite” status of the Gymnasium and its certificate, the Abitur. In the absence of explicit “elite” institutions, unlike the UK, the USA or France, the question remains how social privilege is intergenerationally transferred in times of educational expansion? Several studies on this topic focused on distinction either through horizontal educational differentiation or via distinctive leisure activities. Building on Bourdieu’s theory of distinction and Lareau’s study on child-rearing practices, we argue that it is the set of different strategies of distinction that serves as a mechanism to reproduce privilege. Hence, we ask the question how parents’ and grandparents’ educational background influences the probability of applying a whole set of distinctive strategies. To test our assumptions, we use data from the youth questionnaire of the German Socio-Economic panel and analyse the effect of educational background on the application of distinctive educational strategies and distinctive leisure practices and the combination of both domains. The results indicate three main findings: first, having parents with an academic education increases the probability of applying any of the distinctive strategies under consideration. Second, having academically educated grandparents increases the probability of combining distinctive strategies within one domain. Third, the data do not support the assumption that the combination of curricular and leisure practices is particularly socially stratified.