Topic > Describing achievement in an educational context and the impact of cultural capital

The definition of educational success is not set in stone and has been debated by philosophers for centuries (Messersmith, 2007). According to York, Gibson and Rankin (2015), the definition of educational success is broad but can be divided into six elements which are academic achievement, satisfaction, acquisition of skills and competences, perseverance, achievement of learning goals and professional success. To discuss the relationship and effect of cultural capital on educational success, we should also establish the meaning of cultural capital. “Cultural capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviors, and skills that one can draw on to demonstrate one's cultural competence, and therefore one's social status or position in society” (Cole, 2016). The link between cultural capital and educational success can be seen in their definitions, both of which include “skill” and “competence”. This suggests that a certain level of skill and knowledge is required to achieve success, therefore cultural capital is a vital tool for educational success. This is true when considering the issue from the perspective of social class and ethnicity, however the gender perspective debunks this position. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the case of social class, students of a higher social class have an advantage over others in terms of instilled cultural capital that increases their chance of achieving educational success. This is due to the fact that upper-class students are imbued with the necessary "linguistic" and "cultural" skills commonly present in their society. As mentioned by Dumais (2009), “linguistic and cultural skills” are widely practiced in upper-class society compared to lower-class society. “Differences in cultural capital are reinforced by an educational system that prefers these styles, leaving most members of the lower classes with little hope of achieving social mobility” (Dumais, 2009). This point is also supported by Wallman (2010) who found that a huge percentage of the population in the United States, in recent years, identified as having learning disabilities came from low-income families. Many of them had difficulty learning the English language, which played an important role in the school education system, and for this reason a large number of them dropped out of school (Wallman, 2010). A study conducted by Sullivan (2001) measuring the social class of the parents and the cultural capital of the child showed that both factors are closely related to each other. In 2011, Tzanakis (2011) continued Sullivan's research and demonstrated that “cultural variables” and “social class” are indeed important factors for students to achieve good grades. Therefore, cultural capital can be said to be a vital factor for educational success. However, when considering the issue from a gender perspective, cultural capital is not as vital to a person's educational success as the amount of cultural capital each gender receives. they do not reflect their academic performance. Jacobs (1996) stated that much research in sociology tends to neglect the gender factor. Many philosophers, such as Bourdieu, overlook this factor and many of his works imply that gender is not an important factor when analyzing a particular society. However, Dumais (2002) argued that both boys and girls receive different treatment experiences in their school systems and from their 30