Both cultural and social capital have been used in the existing literature to understand the differences in student persistence. Bourdieu's theories (1986, 1993, 1973), through their various applications, have provided evidence that the influence of social and cultural capital on student achievement varies based on the context of the study (Sternberg et al. 2011; Farruggia et al. 2018; Grodsky 2007). This research will build on the existing research and expand the focus of the research to a broader application of both cultural and social capital together. Through this method, this dissertation examines differences in college readiness students possess when they enter Urban Center University. This research also examines differences in the type and level of social capital students report activating in their first semester of college, primarily measured through students' sense of belonging. Finally, it will examine differences in support for students' cultural communities as measured by academic/social support for their cultural community and strain with family and friends from home. A binary logistic regression operationalizes all three components of cultural and social capital to investigate the likelihood of the following: persistence to year two and year three, on-time graduation, and attainment of satisfactory academic performance (SAP) toward degree completion. Finally, high degrees of belonging for Latino/a students, men, and first-generation students are compared to overall persistence rates for these populations to examine how belonging impacts persistence for students who identify as members of these groups. / Doctor of Philosophy / Many students choose to attend a college or university and never graduate. This dissertation examines the ways that their high school experience, family and friends, and relationships forged at Urban Center impact their persistence and likelihood of graduating in four years. The research will combine several forms of relationships and academic measures in one model to understand the ways they interact to impact persistence. The research will help colleges and universities understand the way that both pre-college behaviors and academic effort, relationships forged in college, and maintaining home relationships impact the likelihood of persistence. The context for Urban Center was selected because it offers insight into a campus with a very diverse student body based on race, gender, sexual orientation, Pell Grant utilization, and status as the first in their immediate family to attend college.

Despite natural beauty and strong ties to kinship and community, the Appalachian region has experienced economic and social disadvantages compared to other regions of the United States. Historically rural areas have been left by the wayside with little federal or state funding; rural areas received $401-$648 less per capita than their metropolitan counterparts in the years between 1994 and 2001(Kellogg Foundation, 2004). 42 percent of the population of Appalachia live in rural areas, compared to 20 percent nationally (Gohl, 2013). As of 2014 the poverty rate in Appalachia is 17.2 percent in comparison to the national average of 15.6 percent (ARC, 2016). Consequently Appalachian towns have been privy to anti-poverty policies and development work by the United States government for over half a century (Farmbry, 2014). But the anti-poverty measures did very little to change the region. In order to promote change and prosper as a region, many Appalachian towns have turned to using their cultural capital as a community development resource. As a tool in community building, cultural capital shifts the focus of a community away from its problems, towards its assets (Phillips and Shockley, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore how two rural Appalachian towns use cultural capital to impact their community's viability. To do so the researcher used qualitative interview methods and focus groups to understand the experiences of three leadership groups in each community. The findings of this study provide insight into how communities identify and operationalize their cultural capital, and what impact it has on their economic and social prosperity. Additional research should be done on community viability in rural areas, including community visioning, and power dynamics of rural spaces. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

This study has been undertaken to analyse the potential of sport as cultural capital in the South African Police Service. There is a need to determine the role of sport in the SAPS and its realisation as a cultural capital and to also find out why the SAPS does not fully realise sport as Cultural Capital. The study offers an understanding of aspects of law enforcement agency sport, cultural and social capital, social cohesion, the social role of sport, sport governance, political power and struggle and sport policy in the SAPS. A review of relevant literature dealing with sport in the law enforcement agencies, cultural and social capital and sport policy was carried out. The sources to gather information embody: books, magazines, articles, newspapers, Government media reports, journals and information from the internet. Single stage sampling procedure was used as the researcher has access to names in the population and can sample the people or other elements directly (Creswell, 2009). A schedule of questions served as the main data collection tool, and it was piloted on ten per cent of the members of the population who did not serve in the final sample of respondents. This exercise assisted in validating the questions. The qualitative study was done with face-to-face semi-structured interviews to get the views of SAPS sport participants relating to SAPS sport. The questions schedule was used to conduct face-to-face interviews to collect data analysed using Atlas ti. SAPS sport contributes towards the accrual of cultural capital within the South African Police Service, but with an exception of language culture, embodied cultural capital and objectified cultural capital. The study concludes that workplace sport has a positive influence on employees' performance and it contributes significantly towards the high level of employees' commitment to the organisation. Police officers should be given opportunities to be involved in sport and recreation activities within the working environment. SAPS should ensure that proper resources are provided and are made easily accessible to enable employees to participate in sport regardless of rank. All police personnel should be exposed to opportunities that are there because of participation in sport in the work environment. SAPS top management should give full support to all members who are interested in participating in sport because of the benefits that are accrued when taking part in sport. Proper sport structures should be put in place at all levels of SAPS sphere of operations so that there should not be communication breakdown in relation to sport issues. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / DPhil / Unrestricted

This research addresses how socioeconomic status impacts the ways that students with learning disabilities and their families interact with the school system and the consequences of these interactions. This will inform policy on special education, and college level services and accommodations for students with learning disabilities. In addition to exploring general patterns of college attendance for students with learning disabilities, this research will include an analysis of what factors best predict college attendance and persistence for students with learning disabilities. Specifically, the forms of capital framework including economic, social, and cultural capital along with habitus are used to understand issues of access and success in college. The primary findings of this study include a) the intersection of socioeconomic status and disability create an extreme form of stratification in college attendance for students with learning disabilities, b) each form of capital is significantly related to college attendance, c) measures of habitus are some of the strongest predictors of college attendance, d) forms of capital best predict college attendance at four-year colleges and universities and are less predictive for other forms of post-secondary education, and e) current models of college persistence may not be accurate for this population of students.

While quantitative research has determined that first-generation college students (FGS) are less likely to interact with faculty than are their non-FGS peers, this qualitative study examines how incoming first-year college students, both FGS and non-FGS, perceive faculty-student interaction and whether they consider it important. Addressing different types of interaction with college instructors, both in-class and out-of-class, participants across a range of FGS status shared their views through surveys, individual interviews, and focus groups. Focusing specifically on incoming first year students, this study also explores the motives for, impediments to, and encouragements to faculty-student interaction that students identify. Finally, the study examines the origins of students’ perceptions of such interactions. It finds that FGS and non-FGS come to college with different cultural and social capital pertaining to this, and that non-FGS have a greater familiarity with the field and expected habitus of college. However, FGS demonstrate an ability to access their social capital in order to obtain valuable knowledge that informs their perceptions of college and of faculty-student interaction. Further, in the focus groups, FGS described emerging comfort with faculty over the course of their first months of college. The origins of students’ perceptions often differed, as non-FGS were more likely to describe being influenced by family, while FGS more often explained how they accessed their social capital in order to obtain cultural capital and practical knowledge regarding college and faculty-student interaction. Meanwhile, FGS’ and non-FGS’ motives for interacting with faculty, and the impediments and encouragements they identified, were frequently similar. The motives included their desire to learn and share opinions, as well as their interest in obtaining letters of recommendation in the future, while comfort with classmates and faculty and interest in class were commonly named as encouragements to interact with faculty.

Thesis advisor: Audrey Friedman / Evidence suggests that college preparation programs successfully support students through college preparation and application process. However, most research into college preparation programs does not attend to students' collegiate experiences once they leave college preparation programs. This dissertation explored the long-term influence of Small College's College Preparation Program (CPP) on students' collegiate academic, cultural, and social experiences, following college preparation program graduation. This research is a multiple-case study that used phenomenologically oriented interviews. The source of participants was students who completed CPP in 2006 and 2007 and who were enrolled in a university. Using purposeful sampling to achieve maximum variation among CPP graduates, I conducted three tape-recorded interviews of seven participants. Interactive interviews followed Seidman's (1998) recommendations for interview content. Positioning theory was used, in conjunction with social and cultural capital, to analyze data throughout data collection. Positioning theory served as a useful lens for examining the first year college experiences of CPP graduates because it allowed the researcher to explore participant experiences with their agency in mind. Much of the literature on university outreach college preparation programs places students at the center of the research. Often, though, within the research, students are positioned as passive recipients of college preparation services. Viewing the college admissions process as a discourse, participants reflexively self-positioned, but they were also engaged in interactive positioning. In either role, participants assumed an active role, rather than the passive role that most research positions assigns to students. This dissertation finds that participants actively self-positioned as they applied both dominant and non-dominant social and cultural capital during their college preparation and after matriculation. The ability to navigate complex and exclusionary contexts speaks to participants' strengths, perseverance, and motivation. Supportive relationships mitigated the impact of stereotype threat, interpersonal and institutional microaggressions. Moreover, participants self-positioned in ways that built on participants' wealth of insights, experiences, relationships, and capital, leading to academic success. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Karen D. Arnold / As students increasingly incur high amounts of debt for their undergraduate education, there is heightened concern about the long-term implications of loans on borrowers, especially borrowers from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Drawing upon the concepts of cultural capital and habitus (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) and the human capital framework (Becker, 1993), this research explores how student debt and social class intersect and affect individuals' trajectory into adulthood. A total of 50 interviews were conducted with young adults who had incurred $30,000 to $180,000 in undergraduate debt and who were from varying social classes. The findings explore how four categories of students -<italic>Insiders, Entrepreneurs, Pioneers, and New Moneys</italic>- varied along dimensions of economic and cultural wealth, and experienced their college search, college education, and transition to the workforce differently. The findings point to the immense role that habitus (Bourdieu, 1986) plays in shaping borrowers' educational experiences and post-graduation outcomes: Individuals' embodied cultural capital shaped their educational experiences and interactions with institutions and the labor market. Those who had high levels of cultural resources tended to have a more rigorous college search, stronger academic orientation, and greater student involvement during college. Compared to other students, they were more likely to transition to high-paying, high-status professional positions after graduation and attend graduate school. In contrast, individuals with low cultural resources tended to have a more casual college search, were more prone to encountering errors with their financial aid, spent a great deal of time working during college, and later faced underemployment in the labor market. They were less likely to report benefiting from a social network and their credential in the labor market and more likely to express regret about their debt and college education. The findings illustrate the inequitable payoff that college and debt have for borrowers with varying levels of cultural resources, and suggest that loans can serve as a form of social reproduction. A conceptual model outlines the factors associated with incurring high levels of debt and illustrates how they relate to borrowers' college experiences and lives post-graduation. In highlighting how debt exacerbates social inequities and the risks it can pose to students, especially students with low income and cultural resources, the findings call for higher education institutions to conduct a comprehensive review of their practices and services from the time students apply to college to after they graduate. Enhanced supports at high schools and community organizations can also assist families, particularly in encouraging participation in early savings plans and strengthening their financial literacy. Additionally, increased governmental scrutiny of borrowing can help protect students from over-indebtedness. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Irwin Blumer / Thesis advisor: James Marini / The effects of a formal empowerment and education program on parent's empowerment and involvement in their child's education. By Michelle Gomes Sanchez Through decades of research and data collecting, the effects of parent involvement in their child's education on a student outcomes has been examined through countless lenses; each with findings indicating its tremendous positive impact with benefits that extend beyond a child doing better in school. This dissertation, through a cross case-analysis of six parents, attempted to determine if parents felt more empowered as a result of participating in an education and empowerment program and in turn if that feeling of empowerment compelled them to be more involved in their child's education. The study examined changes in parent attitudes and perceptions of empowerment, as well as levels of engagement after participating in the training program that was specially designed to provide them with the skills needed to become better involved in their child's education. The workshops focused on empowering them with knowledge about social and cultural capital as well as different issues related to the development and education of their child such as communicating effectively with your child, creating a homework environment, having powerful parent teacher meetings, creating valuable two-way lines of communication with the school, as well as understanding child development. Overall, the project created a very successful parent program that increased parent involvement by providing workshops specifically targeted at educating and empowering parents in order for them to feel more confident in their abilities to be an effective advocate for their child. The study made cleat that parent involvement can not just be a statement in your handbook or mission statement; it must be a priority of the school and be embedded into the school culture, with staff buy-in and deliberate parent education about cultural and social capital and its effects on their involvement and must provide them with the resources needed to most effectively navigate the school system. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration.

In order to meet the problems of inequalities between students in swedish school, the governmentissues thepolicy "Jämlik skola" that aims to increase knowledge resultsand reduce inequalities in schools. The policy is based on the fact that the state must take greater responsibility for the distribution of resources to schools in order to strengthen the conditions for these to supply all studentswith equivalent education. The aim of thisessay is to conduct a policy analysis of "Jämlik skola" where the policyinstruments are identified and categorized to get an idea of how policies are supposed to address the problem of inequality in school. In addition, this essay aimsto carry out an evaluation based on the ”theory of the middle-class”that partially treats the concept of cultural capital and create an understanding of whether the policy compensates for different cultural capital among students. The conclusion indicates that the policy shows some signs of compensating for cultural capital, but several measures in the policy are far too vague, or focus on areas that lacks support regarding working against inequalities.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Celli de Oliveira null (maria-fernanda-co@hotmail.com) on 2017-03-24T19:44:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO-MARIA-FERNANDA-CELLI-DE-OLIVEIRA_Ficha-catalográfica_merged.pdf: 1021245 bytes, checksum: 5711acaa4dc6aaefd8e4e240cb6d85f9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-03-24T21:00:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_mfc_me_arafcl.pdf: 1021245 bytes, checksum: 5711acaa4dc6aaefd8e4e240cb6d85f9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-24T21:00:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_mfc_me_arafcl.pdf: 1021245 bytes, checksum: 5711acaa4dc6aaefd8e4e240cb6d85f9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-03 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Esta pesquisa visou a analisar, com base nas trajetórias sociais de três agentes escolares, como a herança cultural e familiar tendem a influenciar na estruturação do habitus em relação às questões de gênero de cada agente, interferindo também no processo de estruturação das crianças da educação infantil, sejam enquanto filhos ou alunos inseridos na Instituição Pública de uma cidade de médio porte do interior paulista, unidade escolar de atuação dos agentes analisados. Apoiado nas concepções de Pierre Bourdieu, este estudo buscou desvendar na práxis como os conceitos de habitus, capital econômico, capital social, capital cultural, herança cultural e ethos podem intervir nas questões relacionadas ao gênero desde a mais tenra idade. Na análise dos dados que foram obtidos com as entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com os agentes escolares foi empregado o método praxiológico, também desenvolvido pelo sociólogo e sua equipe. Para uma melhor compreensão da pesquisa, foram utilizadas seções que vão desde a apresentação dos principais conceitos que embasam o trabalho, tais quais desenvolvidos por Bourdieu, até a apresentação e análise dos dados. Assim, buscou-se com este estudo identificar e ressaltar como pode se dar a estruturação do gênero feminino e masculino, desvelando, assim, como o meio social do qual os agentes são oriundos interfere nesse processo tanto pessoal, quanto em relação às crianças com as quais esses agentes têm contato. / This study aimed to analyze, considering the social trajectory of three school agents, how the family and cultural heritage tend to affect the structuring of the habitus regarding the gender issues of each agent. Besides that, it tends to interfere on the structuring process of the early childhood education children, whether as students or children inserted in the public institution of a Sao Paulo inland medium-sized city, school unit where the analyzed agents act. Based on Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptions, this study aimed to unravel in praxis how the concepts of habitus, economic capital, social capital, cultural capital, cultural heritage and ethos may intervene on gender related issues since the early age. In the data analysis obtained with the semi-structured interviews held with the school agents, it was applied the praxeological method, also developed by the mentioned sociologist and his team. For a better understanding of this research, it was used sections that go from presentation of the main concepts that substantiated this work, such as those developed by Bourdieu, until the data presentation and analysis. Thus, this study sought to identify and highlight how both feminine and masculine genders can be structured, revealing how the social environment of which the agents are part of interferes in this personal process as well as regarding the children they have contact with. This makes possible the signaling of how these issues have been treated in and out of school. / CNPq: 831620/1999-4