Bañuelos, N.I., & Jang-Tucci, K. (2025). Investigating the relationship between community cultural wealth and cultural capital in higher education: A quantitative study. Innovative Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-025-09844-7
Abstract
This manuscript investigates the relationship between Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital–what we refer to as Bourdieusian Cultural Capital (BCC)–and Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework. We examine two core assumptions about these concepts: (1) that CCW and BCC represent distinct forms of capital, and (2) that CCW is a resource unique to Students of Color. Drawing on survey data from two larger studies of college students (N = 892), we examine whether commonly used quantitative measures of BCC and new measures of CCW capture different cultural signals, and whether students’ reported levels of each vary by race/ethnicity, subjective social class, and parental education. Our findings support the conceptual distinction between CCW and BCC, although some forms of CCW (e.g., aspirational, navigational, and familial capitals) overlap more with BCC than others. Notably, White students’ report access to resources that approximate CCW, challenging the notion that these forms of capital are tied exclusively to racialized experiences. We call for more conceptual precision–both in measuring cultural capital and in developing programming for students.
Keywords: Career and Technical Education (CTE), Student Success, Postsecondary Education, Employability Skills, Workforce Development, Career Readiness, Educational Pathways, Soft Skills, STEM Education, High-Impact Practices, Online Learning, Remote Work Preparedness, Industry Partnerships, Vocational Training, Educational Equity, Alternative Postsecondary Pathways, Technical Skills, Professional Development, Transferable Skills, CTE Policy and Funding