Search

Cultural Capital and Collaborative Cultivation: a Study on Investment in Education by Urban Families in China

Author(s)

Li Xinwei*

Affiliation(s)

School of Political Science and Law, University of Jinan, Jinan, China. *Corresponding Author

Abstract

Urban families in China are continuously increasing their investment in their children's education, leading to the rapid expansion of the shadow education market and making parental anxiety a significant social phenomenon. This paper, using Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital and Laroux's theory of collaborative upbringing as its core framework, systematically examines the scale and motivations of shadow education, the generation mechanism of parental anxiety, and the reproduction of class differences and educational inequality. The study finds that the intergenerational transmission of cultural capital exhibits complex effects in market-driven education; the collaborative upbringing model of middle-class families reflects both rational strategies and faces the dilemma of methodological deficiencies; educational anxiety is structural and contagious, with group interaction further amplifying competitive pressure; and the expansion of shadow education forms a symbiotic relationship with the existing education system, making it difficult to completely eliminate. Finally, this paper points out that future research should focus on the specific dilemmas of cultural capital transmission among middle-class families and the operational logic of horizontal collaborative networks among parents.

Keywords

Cultural Capital; Collaborative Education; Shadow Education; Educational Inequality

References

[1] Xue Haiping, Ding Xiaohao. A Study on Educational Tutoring for Urban Students in China[J]. Educational Research, 2009, (1). [2] Chen Fei, Sun Zihan, Cui Leiqiang. The Expansion of Shadow Education, Status Externalities and Residents' Fertility Intentions[J]. China Soft Science, 2025, (12): 73-83. [3] Shi Yiqian. A Study on the Impact of Family Education Expectations on Investment in Non-academic Shadow Education--Based on an Empirical Survey of M Educational Institutions in N City[J]. Social Work Research on Special Groups, 2025, (2): 180-193. [4] [US] Mathias Depke, Fabrizio Zilibotti. Love, Money and Children: The Economics of Childcare[M]. Shanghai: Gezhi Press, 2019: 136-137. [5] Zhao Xiaomin, Wang Yijie. Is All Cultural Capital Useful?--Cultural Capital Investment and Academic Performance under the Marketization of Education[J]. Guizhou Social Sciences, 2023, (2): 76-86. [6] Bourdieu. Forms of Capital[M]. Translated by Wu Xishen. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2005: 3-22. [7] Zhao Xiaomin, Wang Yijie. Is All Cultural Capital Useful?--Cultural Capital Investment and Academic Performance under the Marketization of Education[J]. Guizhou Social Sciences, 2023, (2): 76-86. [8] Niu Jiaxuan. A Study on the Intergenerational Transmission of Family Cultural Capital[D]. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University, 2024. [9] Sun Ting, Xu Jiajun. Learning to Be a Parent: How Extracurricular Tutoring Classes for Primary School Students Shape the Cultural Capital of Middle-class Families[J]. Youth Studies, 2025, (5): 39-57,194. [10] Lareau A. Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families[J]. American Sociological Review, 2002, 67(5): 747-776. [11] Lalou Annette. Family Advantage: Social Class and Parental Involvement[M]. Translated by Wu Chonghan, Xiong Suchun, Zhang Jun. Nanchang: Jiangxi Education Press, 2014. [12] Sun Ting, Xu Jiajun. Learning to Be a Parent: How Extracurricular Tutoring Classes for Primary School Students Shape the Cultural Capital of Middle-class Families[J]. Youth Studies, 2025, (5): 39-57,194. [13] Bray M. The Shadow Education System: Private Tutoring and its Implications for Planners[R]. UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, 1999. [14] Chen Fei, Sun Zihan, Cui Leiqiang. The Expansion of Shadow Education, Status Externalities and Residents' Fertility Intentions[J]. China Soft Science, 2025, (12): 73-83. [15] Yang Chengrong, Zhang Yishan, Zhang He. Basic Education Equity and Economic and Social Development[J]. Management World, 2021, (10): 152-166. [16] Chen Huazai, Xiao Wei. An Interpretation of the Phenomenon of "Education Anxiety" among Chinese Parents[J]. Journal of the National Academy of Educational Administration, 2014, (2). [17] Liu Baozhong. "The Widening Gap": A Comparison of the Investment in Children's Education in Chinese Families and Group Differences[J]. Journal of Beijing University of Technology (Social Sciences Edition), 2020, 20(2): 16-24. [18] Shen Hongcheng. Activating Advantages: Group Differences in Parental Participation under the Wave of Paternalism[J]. Society, 2020, (2): 168-203. [19] Tang Xiaojing. Re-examining "Reproduction": The Shift in Perspective of French Educational Sociology and Its Implications[J]. Educational Research, 2021, (9): 58-69. [20] Martin K. Whyte. How Chinese People View Current Social Inequality[J]. Sociological Research, 2009, (1).