Habitus and the reproduction of cultural capital

This chapter presents the Pierre Bourdieu&s;s concept of habitus, including familial habitus and institutional habitus, has been operationalised and examines social class differences in the process of parental involvement in children&s;s schooling and higher education choice. It intends to explore the ways in which the familial habitus across social classes contributes to the reproduction of social differences in terms of social class. The chapter provides an insight into how middle-class familial habitus contributes to the transmission of cultural capital to children. It presents the ways in which working-class habitus influences parents&s; and students&s; decision-making process. The chapter explores the effects of habitus in the setting of the school, after which interview data will be used to analyse the relationship between familial habitus and institutional habitus in the decision-making process. It provides a specific presentation of the ways in which familial habitus works in relation to familial hereditary transmission in terms of cultural capital across generations.