Can high-school students increase their “cultural” capital?
One Wikipedia article refers to cultural capital as, “non-financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond economic means. Examples can include education, intellect, style of speech, dress, or physical appearance” (“Cultural capital”, n.d., para. 1). The instant I was introduced to the idea of cultural capital the parallel that popped immediately into my mind was a comparison to of it to ones’ credit score. Most young adults become very aware of their credit scores as they enter into the work force either after graduating high-school, college, or a graduate/professional school of a specific study. We have all heard the saying, “you have to have money to make money,” and it could be argued that the saying also rings true if it is changed to “you have to have credit to get capital.” Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines capital as, “accumulated possessions calculated to bring in income” and defines credit as, “the most money that a bank or business will allow a person to borrow.” Disregarding the “money” association in the aforementioned definitions and instead relating the terms “credit” and “capital” with a “cultural” interpretation, an argument can be made that high-school students graduate with a set “cultural” credit score that is completely formed by their ability and willingness to achieve in school the way that schools deem “correct.” For the sake of argument the students “cultural” credit score can be directly related to their performance in the classroom, specifically their grade point average (GPA) and SAT/ACT score.
Even if a student does not plan on using their GPA and SAT/ACT score to get into a technical school or college the influence that a student’s GPA and SAT/ACT score has on their life cannot necessarily be dismissed because of the emotional influence it can have on a students’ perceived ability of his or herself. In Just Girls: Hidden Literacies and Life in Junior High, Margaret J. Finders (1997) studies and writes about a particular group of junior high students she labels as “tough cookies” and reports that, “The cookies fully embraced the school-sanctioned role of good student, a role they believed would assure them present success and lead later to success in college and beyond” (pg. 91). Evaluating the aforementioned observation of M. Finders the importance that academic achievement plays is shown to play a major role as young as junior high school.
For students who see college as the next step after high-school a “high” GPA and SAT/ACT score are equivalent to having the perfect financial credit score. In an article in USA Today named “Grades pointless? Some colleges don’t care about GPAs,” Mary Beth Marklein (2013) quotes Robert Bennett, senior associate director of admissions at Clemson saying, “The GPA is very important in our decision-making process,” and Mary Beth Marklein also reports in the article, “where the average high school GPAs for new freshman catapulted from 3.59 to 4.10 over five years. The range on math scores remained the same, 580–680 out of a possible 800.” Mary Beth Marklein quotes Bennett again in the article saying, “A number of factors likely contribute to the increase, he says, including greater access to Advanced Placement courses, which can be weighted more heavily by high schools, and a growing number of applicants. “We’re kind of a hot school.” It could be argued that if a student is not able to get into a “hot” school they might not be deemed as having as much “cultural” capital when they graduate from the “less hot” college of university.
Even the government recognizes “cultural” capital as important and necessary for “success” after school. In order to increase a high school graduating students’ “cultural” capital in the international marketplace the Federal Government passed The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001. In an article in Education Week named “No Child Left Behind: An Overview,” Alyson Klein (2015) writes, “The NCLB law- — which grew out of concern that the American education system was no longer internationally competitive¬¬ — significantly increased the federal role in holding schools responsible for the academic progress of all students. And it put a special focus on ensuring that states and schools boost the performance of certain groups of students, such as English-language learners, students in special education, and poor and minority children, whose achievement, on average, trails their peers. States did not have to comply with the new requirements, but if they didn’t, they risked losing federal Title I money.” With so many factors contributing to graduating high school seniors future “cultural” capital it is easy to see why the majority of students probably believe that how they measure up academically in high school probably will dictate what they are able to attain later in life with their “cultural” capital. If high school students only see their ability to reason for what they want in life as tied to the “cultural” credit score they are stamped with after graduating then most will never pursue other avenues for increasing their “cultural” capital score. This thought process could trap students into not attaining the careers or other goals they may have because they cannot fathom other “cultural” capital outside of academic performance that would accepted as credible.
(n.d.). Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/credit limit
Cultural capital. (n.d.). Retrieved July 09, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital
(n.d.). Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capital
TODAY, M. B. (2013). Grades pointless? Some colleges don’t care about GPAs. Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/27/college-grade-point-averages/1947415/
No Child Left Behind Overview: Definitions, Requirements, Criticisms, and More. (n.d.). Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/no-child-left-behind-overview-definition-summary.html
Finders, M. J. (1997). Just girls: Hidden literacies and life in junior high. New York: Teachers College Press.
