Browsing by Subject "taloudellinen pääoma"

Objectives. The hypothesis was, in accordance with earlier studies, to find a correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement. The goal of this paper was to find out, what kind of a connection there is between socioeconomic status and school success and what kind of explanations have been given to this connection in the research literature. Additionally, this paper will focus on the possible modifying effect of cultural context on the correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement. The theory of capitals by Bourdieu will be used as a basis for discussion considering the connection between the two main constructs and the explanatory factors. Methods. The method used for this thesis was a descriptive literature review. Peer-reviewed research papers found mainly on the international education research database ERIC were used as material. Results and conclusions. There was a connection to be seen between socioeconomic status and academic achievement for which such explanations were given as academic socialization, parental involvement, parental expectations and family resources. The connection was detected in many cultural contexts but there seemed to be some variance between different contexts in how the connection was expressed, as well as in which explaining factors were the most relevant. The factors explaining the connection between socioeconomic status and academic achievement presented in this paper were adjustable into Bourdieu’s theoretical framework. Based on the conclusions of this paper it seems that socioeconomic status is internationally a relevant factor explaining academic achievement.