“I Got it from my Mama:” The influence of working-class parents on young people’s cultural capital for success in school and work

In discussing what young people need in order to thrive in school and work environments, the existing education and workforce literature largely credits the types of social and cultural capital that are gained from middle-class upbringings, and rarely are working-class and low-income counterparts valued or considered conducive to achievement. In this research paper, we discuss how minoritized students from low-income homes described their first experiences in summer internships and their earliest memories related to work. Our student participants, 25 Bronx high school seniors, largely credited their guardians’ and family members’ work ethic (cultural capital) in working-class jobs as critical in their own motivational development. Our findings indicate that the experiences underrepresented youth have at home, through lessons and examples, lead to positive benefits and the development of certain forms of cultural capital, which can lead to academic success and occupational identity formation.