Occupational Inheritance: The Role of Cultural Capital and Gender

It is known that occupational destination is influenced by family cultural resources. Most research on the effects of cultural capital, using nationally representative datasets, has concentrated on paternal occupation and education, finding that higher levels of paternal education are associated with greater educational and occupational attainment. As a result cultural capital has been put forward as a partial explanation for intergenerational class stability. It has been argued that occupational inheritance is more marked for the professional than for the managerial sector of the middle class, due to their greater cultural capital (Savage et al. 1992). This paper explores the effects of father's labour market sector (i.e. managerial or professional) and the educational attainment of both parents, using the National Child Development Study. Evidence was found: 1) that the children of professional fathers are more successful educationally than the children of managers, taking into account measured ability at age 11; and 2) that professional family origins facilitate entry into professional occupations, independently of educational attainments. The effect of gender was also explored. The relative lack of educational attainment on the part of children of managers had a more negative effect on the careers of daughters than of sons.