How Humble Families Produce “Successful Descendants”—Class Advancement from the Perspective of Cultural Capital

Abstract

When disadvantaged families seek to achieve upward social mobility, their most important breakthrough point is for their children to receive an education, and cultural capital is the most likely driving factor influencing educational attainment. In China, although the privileged classes have an advantage in terms of cultural capital, exhibiting a phenomenon of cultural reproduction, premium cultural capital does not display clear class divisions or exclusiveness, and students from disadvantaged families can compensate for their family’s lack of cultural capital through important figures or other avenues. More importantly, the circumstances of disadvantage engender cultural capital characterized by disadvantage, greatly promoting the academic success of students from disadvantaged families. For “successful descendants” to emerge from humble families, impoverished families must not only actively compensate for their family’s lack of cultural capital, but must also strive to produce the cultural capital particular to disadvantaged families; at the same time, the state and society must also provide multifaceted support.

Keywords:

• disadvantaged families
• class constraints
• class advancement
• cultural capital

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to the Master’s students Jin Qiu 金秋, Li Binglei 李冰蕾, and Chen Jing 陈静 at the Institute of Education at Nanjing University for participating in the collection and compiling of the interview data.

Notes

1 Translator’s note: The Chinese phrase is Hanmen nanchu guizi (寒门难出贵子).

Additional information

Funding

The research was by the funded by the Social Science Foundation of China [Education, General Program, Grant No. BAA170019].

Notes on contributors

Yu Xiulan

Yu Xiulan is a professor and doctoral advisor at the Institute of Education, Nanjing University

Han Yan

Han Yan is a Master’s student at the Institute of Education, Nanjing University