Abstract
Bourdieu's cultural capital thesis is an attempt to explain how social class influences the transmission of educational inequality. In this article, the question of the extent to which various forms of capital also apply to ethnic minorities stands central. On the basis of Dutch and American research findings, a model is formulated and empirically tested with the aid of data from the Dutch Primary Education cohort study. Students from four ethnic groups are included: Dutch, Surinamese, Turkish, and Moroccan. The main variables are language and math test scores, socio-economic milieu, and a number of capital indicators, including financial resources, linguistic resources, parental reading behavior, and educational resources within the family. The results show no mediating effect of resources within the various ethnic groups. The findings also suggest that in research and practice it is relevant to not treat ethnic groups as one homogenous group, but to differentiate between the various groups.
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Driessen, G.W.J.M. Ethnicity, Forms of Capital, and Educational Achievement. International Review of Education 47, 513–538 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013132009177
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013132009177