The influence of family cultural capital on higher vocational school admission opportunities: A case study in China

In the face of the great influence of family background on educational opportunities and educational achievements, an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of vocational college students’ family cultural capital can offer a clearer understanding of this group and help society, families, schools, and individuals to establish a scientific concept of growth and talent. Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) database, through a regression analysis of the adult and children’s self-answers to 840 follow-up questionnaires, it was found that the concern for children’s education and the achievement outcomes of educational expectations in the dimension of educational involvement show significant effects in most models. The value cognition in family cultural capital has a reproduction effect. A person’s self-inflicted efforts can significantly reduce individual vocational college admission opportunities. In the context of the globalization of educational equity, China should break the extant human capital evaluation model that links academic performance with identity at the social level. At the family level, the formation of reasonable educational ideas and expectations is recommended. More importantly, individuals must clearly recognize the mechanism of cultural reproduction, reshape their self-perception and worldview, and transcend habitus.