International and Comparative Education —————————————————

CULTURAL CAPITAL INSIDE OUT

A Comparative Cross-Sectional Case Study of Cultural Capital, Career Maturity and Trait Emotional Intelligence

Aljaz Kovac

May, 2016

Institute of International Education, Department of Education

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Abstract  

 

 

The present study investigates Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital with both

sociological and psychological tools, and does so against a background of two well-

developed theoretical oppositions, namely the opposition between cultural

reproduction and cultural mobility, and the opposition between cultural hierarchy and

the omnivorous thesis. By incorporating the psychological concepts of trait emotional

intelligence and career maturity into this debate the study aims to see whether such a

sociopsychological understanding of cultural capital would be meaningful, and which

of the proposed oppositions would be supported in the study’s specific setting. The

data was collected at 2 Slovenian gymnasiums. The entire 4th year cohorts responded

to a standardized survey on cultural capital and to two well-developed psychometric

measures (n = 224). Two-step cluster analysis was used. The findings lend tentative

support to the cultural mobility and the omnivorous thesis, and the results show a

positive correlation between all three concepts once the distinction between an active

acquisition and a passive inheritance of cultural capital has been accounted for. The

study’s attempt to build a bridge between sociology and psychology in the

understanding of cultural capital adds a new dimension to its operationalization,

something that might perhaps open up new venues to measure, enhance or target the

development of all three of the study’s key concepts.

Keywords

Cultural capital, habitus, cultural reproduction, cultural mobility, social mobility,

cultural hierarchy, omnivorous, Pierre Bourdieu, trait emotional intelligence, career

maturity, highbrow, lowbrow.

 

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Table  of  Contents  

 

Abstract  .................................................................................................................................  1  

Table  of  Contents  ...............................................................................................................  2  

List  of  Tables  .......................................................................................................................  4  

List  of  Figures  ......................................................................................................................  4  

Acknowledgments  .............................................................................................................  5  

INTRODUCTION  ..................................................................................................................  6  Background  of  the  Study  ..........................................................................................................  6  The  Framework  of  the  Study  ..................................................................................................  8  THE  TURNING  POINTS  .........................................................................................................................  9  CULTURAL  REPRODUCTION  vs.  CULTURAL  MOBILITY  ......................................................  10  CULTURAL  HIERARCHY  vs.  THE  OMNIVOROUS  THESIS  .....................................................  11  TWO  SIDES  OF  THE  SAME  COIN  .....................................................................................................  11  

The  Research  Problem  and  Goals  .......................................................................................  12  RESEARCH  QUESTIONS  ......................................................................................................................  13  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  STUDY  ........................................................................................................  13  LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  STUDY  .........................................................................................................  14  

THE  THREE  MAIN  CONCEPTS  OF  THE  STUDY  ........................................................  15  Career  Maturity  ........................................................................................................................  15  Trait  Emotional  Intelligence  ................................................................................................  17  Cultural  Capital  .........................................................................................................................  18  THE  STUDY'S  OPERATIONALIZATION  OF  CULTURAL  CAPITAL  .....................................  20  

THE  RESEARCH  SETTING  .............................................................................................  22  Slovenian  Society  ......................................................................................................................  22  Slovenian  Educational  System  .............................................................................................  23  The  Two  Schools:  Gymnasium  Lava  and  Gymnasium  Celje-­‐Center  .........................  24  

RESEARCH  METHODOLOGY  ........................................................................................  25  Research  Design  and  Sampling  ...........................................................................................  26  Ethical  Considerations  ............................................................................................................  26  Data  Collection  and  Data  Processing  .................................................................................  27  MEASURES  AND  QUESTIONNAIRES  .............................................................................................  27  Career  Maturity  Inventory  or  CMI  .............................................................................................................  27  TEIQ-­‐ue  Short  Form  .........................................................................................................................................  28  Cultural  Capital  Survey  ...................................................................................................................................  29  Categories  of  Cultural  Capital  Variables  ...........................................................................................  30  

OPERATIONALIZATION  OF  CULTURAL  CAPITAL  VARIABLES  .........................................  31  VALIDITY  AND  RELIABILITY  ...........................................................................................................  32  Strengthening  the  Reliability  of  the  Cultural  Capital  Survey  .........................................................  32  Merging  of  Categories  ...............................................................................................................................  33  Exclusion  of  Variables  ...............................................................................................................................  33  

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DATA  ANALYSIS  ...............................................................................................................  35  Statistical  Procedures  Used  ..................................................................................................  35  Sample  Descriptive  Statistics  ...............................................................................................  36  The  Two-­‐Step  Cluster  Analysis  ............................................................................................  36  Findings  of  the  Analysis  .........................................................................................................  39  SUMMATIVE  AND  COMPARATIVE  TABLES  OF  CLUSTERS  .................................................  40  Evaluative  Variables:  Socioeconomic  Background  ............................................................................  40  Evaluative  Variables:  Educational  Capital  and  Other  .......................................................................  41  Clustering  Variables:  Interests  and  Activities  ......................................................................................  42  Clustering  Variables:  Film  Knowledge  and  Taste  ...............................................................................  44  Clustering  Variables:  Reading  Preferences  ...........................................................................................  45  Clustering  Variables:  Music  Preferences  ................................................................................................  46  Clustering  Variables:  Family  Cultural  Capital  ......................................................................................  47  Clustering  Variables:  Membership  in  Organizations  .........................................................................  48  Evaluative  Variables:  Trait  Emotional  Intelligence  ...........................................................................  49  Evaluative  Variables:  Career  Maturity  ....................................................................................................  50  

SUMMATIVE  CHARACTERIZATION  OF  CLUSTERS  ................................................................  51  The  Sporty  Geeks  ..............................................................................................................................................  53  The  Highbrow  Elite  ..........................................................................................................................................  54  The  Dedicated  Disadvantaged  .....................................................................................................................  55  

DISCUSSION  OF  THE  FINDINGS  ...................................................................................  56  Research  Questions  Revisited  ..............................................................................................  57  THE  NEXUS  OF  CULTURAL  CAPITAL,  CAREER  MATURITY  AND  TRAIT  EMOTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE  .......................................................................................................................................  59  

CONCLUDING  REMARKS  ...............................................................................................  60  

REFERENCES  .....................................................................................................................  63  

APPENDIX  ..........................................................................................................................  69  Appendix  1:  Career  Maturity  Inventory  (English  original)  ........................................  69  Appendix  2:  Career  Maturity  Inventory  (Slovenian  translation)  ............................  72  Appendix  3:  TEIQ-­‐ue  Short  Form  (English  Original)  ....................................................  75  Appendix  4:  TEIQ-­‐ue  Short  Form  (Slovenian  Translation)  ........................................  77  Appendix  5:  Cultural  Capital  Survey  (English)  ...............................................................  79  Appendix  6:  Cultural  Capital  Survey  (Slovenian)  ..........................................................  84  

   

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List  of  Tables    

Table 1: The categories of variables measured by the cultural capital survey  ..............  30  Table 2: The operationalization of variables in preparation for the two-step cluster

analysis  ........................................................................................................................................  31  Table 3: The list of excluded variables  .......................................................................................  34  Table 4: Clustering variables used in the two-step cluster analysis for the formation of

the clusters  ..................................................................................................................................  37  Table 5: Evaluative variables used as cluster descriptors in the two-step cluster

analysis  ........................................................................................................................................  38  Table 6: A summative and comparative table of socioeconomic variables  ...................  40  Table 7: A summative and comparative table of school success and other variables  .  41  Table 8: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' interests and activities  43  Table 9: A summative and comparative table of variables pertaining to film

knowledge and taste  ................................................................................................................  44  Table 10: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' reading preferences  ..  45  Table 11: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' music preferences  .....  46  Table 12: A summative and comparative table of how often the given topics are

discussed at home  ....................................................................................................................  47  Table 13: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' participation in the

given types of organizations  .................................................................................................  48  Table 14: A summative and comparative table of trait emotional intelligence variables

 ........................................................................................................................................................  49  Table 15: A summative and comparative table of career maturity variables  ................  50  

List  of  Figures  

Figure 1: The two theoretical oppositions  .................................................................................  21  Figure 2: The two-step analysis cluster solution  .....................................................................  39  Figure 3: The relational space of the three clusters in a horizontal and vertical

sociocultural stratification  .....................................................................................................  53  Figure 4: The location of clusters within the social space  ...................................................  56  

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Acknowledgments    

This study would not have been possible without my brilliant mentor dr. Carina

Carlhed. She was endlessly generous with her guidance, insight, feedback, time and

motivation. Her dedication epitomizes the true spirit of universitas, which is Latin for

»a whole«. Indeed, half of whatever might be right about this thesis is hers, whereas

everything that might be wrong about it is wholy mine.

My gratitude goes to the wonderful staff at both schools where the research

was conducted: without their unselfish support there would be no data to collect.

And last but not least, I am thankful to my family, not only for their love and

friendship, but also for helping me to collect and process the data.

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INTRODUCTION  

Background  of  the  Study  

The concept of career maturity has its roots in the 1950s when Donald Super first

started to construct his concept of career development. The work was later expanded

upon by John Crites who attempted to understand the process of decision making at

various crossroads in an individual's professional life, such as the educational turning

points (the passage from elementary to secondary education, from secondary to

tertiary education, and so on), or career turning points, such as the first entry into the

labor market, or the changing of jobs. In the educational system such turning points

have often been interpreted within the framework of Pierre Bourdieu and his various

forms of capital, namely economic, cultural, social, and academic capital, as well as

his concept of habitus, as either crucial moments of reproduction (Bourdieu &

Passeron, 1979) or of social mobility (Bellamy, 1994; Horvat, 2001; DiMaggio, 1982;

Dumais, 2002). A great deal of work and research has been done to understand how

the educational system reproduces the culture in which it is embedded, mainly to

better understand social mobility and the changing landscape of the labor market, as

well as the cultural and social values upon which it is founded. However, the

conclusions differ. This is partly due to the fact that the very concepts that this type of

research operationalizes have been “rather vague” (Jaeger, 2011, p. 283) from the

beginning, as well as the fact that every culture will have its own specific dynamic of

cultural and social capital. So, even if one were to come up with a uniform and clear

definition of all the forms of Bourdieu's capital, as well as ways of measuring them,

they would still play rather different roles in every research setting. American and

French societies, for example, will always differ in terms of the impact the cultural

and social capital of their citizens will have on their educational and career

opportunities, as well as their social mobility, to name but a few.

A recent study by Gripsrud, Hovden, & Moe (2011) on cultural capital in

Norway concludes that traditional forms of highbrow culture play a much more

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distinctive role in France than they do in Norway and that “the educational system’s

role in imposing a respect for the culture of the dominant classes on the lower classes

is thus less important in Norway – with assumed consequences also for the

charismatic aspects of cultural capital.” (p. 527) Norway is a country with high

economic and social mobility, which is supported by its late modernization and

therefore a specific political milieu, and all of these factors contribute to the vastly

different role that cultural capital (as defined by Bourdieu, meaning one's familiarity

with traditional and legitimate forms of culture) plays in the Norwegian educational

system. However, the really interesting part of the study comes at the very end when

the researchers attempt to suggest implications for further research:

Bourdieu’s theory does not have space or tools for an understanding of a social loss

associated with, say, Johann Sebastian Bach’s music becoming increasingly forgotten

and unheard. A key question for future research, then, is to try to answer how such

losses are to be understood in sociological terms. (Gripsrud, Hovden, & Moe, 2011,

p. 527)

The question seems to be relevant and engaging. However, can it ever be answered

with sociological tools only? It is namely a question that pertains to Marx's concept of

use value as opposed to exchange value, meaning that something may have practical

and objective utility for the consumer in itself, on its own, as opposed to utility that

the object in question has for the consumer as an item that can be traded on the market

(Marx, 1954). Water, to take a random example, clearly has objective utility to its

consumer and can therefore have great use value without having any exchange value

whatsoever (if there is an abundance of water around). The use value of cultural

products, however, is less clear and less objective. It is still dependent on the

knowledge of the cultural code within which it exists, and this cultural code has a

very distinstive exchange value:

By doing away with giving explicitly to everyone what it implicitly demands of

everyone, the educational system demands of everyone alike that they have what it

does not give. This consists mainly of linguistic and cultural competence and that

relationship of familiarity with culture which can only be produced by family

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upbringing when it transmits the dominant culture. (Bourdieu, Cultural Reproduction

and Social Reproduction, 1973, p. 80)

If the question is to be answered with sociological tools only it might risk acquiring a

moralistic tone that has no place in scientific endeavour. The use of the word “loss”

already implies such a direction. But perhaps the issue of the changes or “losses” in

cultural capital can be solved with the help of psychological tools. If the question of

cultural capital is taken from the outside, so to speak, to the inside, it might provide

new valuable insights into the nature of cultural capital. It could be hypothesized that

career maturity, defined as the readiness to make realistic career choices (Savickas,

1990), and trait emotional intelligence or trait emotional self-efficacy, defined as the

constellation of emotional perceptions (Petrides, 2011), could perhaps be seen as two

viable and practical aspects of cultural capital. The present research therefore aims to

bridge the gap between sociology and psychology by examining the nexus of cultural

capital, trait emotional intelligence and career maturity in ways that shall be further

elaborated upon in the following chapters.

The  Framework  of  the  Study  

The study is based on the hypothesized nexus of Bourdieu's forms of capital, trait

emotional intelligence and career maturity. However, one needs to be aware that the

difficulty of such an investigation is “to produce a precise science of an imprecise,

fuzzy, wooly reality” (Grenfell & James, 1998, p. 157) Bourdieu's framework offers

firm philoshopical guidelines, but is methodologically open-ended, therefore an

investigation from both a sociological and a psychological perspective would seem to

be theoretically viable. The study will focus on Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital,

and will aim to examine its relationship to career maturity, here hypothesized to be

the external or exchange value of cultural capital, and to trait emotional intelligence,

here hypothesized to be the internal or use value of cultural capital. Bourdieu's main

preoccupation was with class reproduction, but a class investigation nowadays may

not necessarily be about the working class and the bourgeoisie. Marx's division is

vertical, but the concept of the more horizontal “social stratification” would seem to

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be more applicable to today's complex societies (Payne, 2013). Class divisions in the

educational system of today, for example, may be expressed in rather nuanced ways,

in “the way classroom discourse operates, or the way students and staff experience

higher education, or the way career choices are made, or the relations between school

and the family.” (Grenfell & James, 1998, p. 25)

In other words, when the notion of today's social class is viewed through the

lens of cultural capital, a more modern reading of the differences between groups of

people than pure socioeconomic status may open up new venues for understanding

social mobility. The differences between groups of people that possess the ability to

make realistic career choices, or great sociability and emotionality skills that might

enable them to build and enhance their social capital, could perhaps illuminate new

divisions between today's social and cultural groups.

THE  TURNING  POINTS  

Why would career maturity and trait emotional intelligence be relevant to the issues

of social class? One of the central questions of Bourdieu's philosophy is the question

of the relationship between determinism and free choice. To what extent do the

various forms of capital direct our lives, and how can one break free from the

inherited dispositions? Bourdieu states that cultural capital is embedded in habitus,

namely the knowledge, language, taste and dispositions, as well as mannerisms that

an individual possesses and projects (Jaeger, 2011, p. 283). Bourdieu argued that as

we continue to reproduce the cultural capital that we inherit we also reproduce the

habitus from which we came. However, “in relatively unusual but far from rare

circumstances, significant transformations can and do occur.” (Grenfell & James,

1998, p. 102)

It seems that the turning points that students face as they progress through life

and career and the educational system, would be the perfect place for an observation

of the possibilities they have for a change of habitus. But while much of the research

on career choices has focused on whether the students made the correct study or

career choice or not, such an approach is difficult to use because there is no uniform

consensus on what a correct decision is. The correctness of the decision is entirely

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dependent on what it is measured by. One of the possible criteria of a “correct” study

choice, for example, could be the satisfaction with the program and the speedy

completion of the chosen studies. Recent research on dropout rates from teacher

training programs in Sweden revealed that the dropout risk increases with a higher

educational level of the father, disappointment in the program, “being uncertain about

the programme at the start”, academic difficulties, etc. (Carlhed). But even if the

students were to speedily finish their studies, such a measure of »correctness« could

quickly be undermined should the freshly graduated student find him or herself

unemployed and with little flexibility to enter the labor market. All in all, it may be

quite difficult to judge the correctness of a study choice as several outer and inner

factors are at play, and they are all somewhat amenable. The nature of the labor

market and the expectations of people are also highly amenable to change. (Grenfell

& James, 1998)

The present study therefore aims to avoid the question of correctness by

examining students' study choices through the lens of Crites' career maturity. In this

way it simply focuses on one's ability to judge a given situation or turning point.

CULTURAL  REPRODUCTION  vs.  CULTURAL  MOBILITY  

Bourdieu's concepts of various forms of capital were integrated into his theory of

cultural reproduction. He argued that children inherit cultural capital either actively or

passively, and are then rewarded for the habitus that is embedded in this cultural

capital by the educational system. Thus they gain more cultural and educational

capital, and maintain their upper class position. Cultural capital is supposed to enable

students “who participate in elite status cultures” (DiMaggio, 1982, p. 190) access to

and knowledge of the cultural codes that govern educational success. Therefore their

familiarity with high-status cultural codes enables them to project an aura of academic

brilliance, or get preferential treatment from the teachers. In other words, according to

the cultural reproduction theory, children from high socioeconomic backgrounds get

higher returns on their cultural capital (Nash, 1990).

This theory has been challenged by an opposing model called cultural

mobility, proposed by Paul DiMaggio (1982) who in his seminal article on cultural

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capital and school success noted “relatively low correlations between parental

education and cultural capital” (DiMaggio, 1982, p. 198). In this way, and in his

specific context, DiMaggio challenged Bourdieu's thesis on cultural capital as a

reproductive element of class differences. His findings give us reason to think that the

link between cultural capital and parental background traits is less important than

Bourdieu's theory would have us believe.

CULTURAL  HIERARCHY  vs.  THE  OMNIVOROUS  THESIS  

This second opposition is closely related to the first one, described above. Bourdieu's

thesis of cultural reproduction presupposes that this culture is reproduced through

hierarchies, which are marked by a specific habitus, or cultural exclusiveness

(Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, 1984, p. 170). In

Bourdieu's view, the educational system reproduces these hierarchies perfectly, and

also controls the distribution of cultural capital. The cultural hierarchy therefore

responds to the “social hierachy of the consumers” (Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social

Critique of the Judgment of Taste, 1984). However, when Richard Peterson

introduced the term “cultural omnivorousness” in 1992 (Peterson, 1992), he argued

that the widely accepted division between elite and mass culture is no longer

applicable to the complex modern societies, where members of the elite have become

more omnivorous in their tastes, consuming a wide range of classical and popular

cultural genres and forms. The present study therefore examines the cultural capital of

its respondents by including a wide range of cultural genres, both higbrow and

lowbrow, to grasp the scope of the tastes that determine the various groups.

TWO  SIDES  OF  THE  SAME  COIN  

Bourdieu realized that students from the higher classes “had embodied skills, habits

and attitudes which served them directly in their scholastic tasks and were central to

their academic success (cultural capital meaning not least the ability to judge the

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market and choose the right studies).” (Gripsrud, Hovden, & Moe, 2011, p. 508) In

relation to the “turning points” in one's educational and professional life as the rare

opportunities for a change of habitus, career maturity could perhaps be seen as part of

the exchange value of cultural capital.

The other side of the coin is the aforementioned use value of cultural capital.

Because one cannot objectively judge the use value of any one object, one can

perhaps only rely on the self-efficacy that the consumption of the object will provide.

In other words, if one is to measure the use value of highbrow culture as opposed to,

say, popular culture, could one not measure one's belief in the ability to understand

the world and oneself better following exposure to higbrow culture? The debate is

similar to the ongoing struggle between ability and trait emotional intelligence. The

proponents of the first concept believe that our emotional abilities are similar to our

cognitive abilities, and therefore they test for our emotional capacity with situations

that have either a right or a wrong solution (Petrides, 2011). Trait emotional

intelligence, on the other hand, is a concept that is based on the assumption that it is

only the respondent that has full access to the information regarding their emotional

perceptions, and it is therefore measured with self-report measures on a Likert scale.

The present study therefore hypothesizes that if one is to measure either the benefits

or the cost of the “loss” of highbrow culture, or the use value of the consumption of

highbrow culture or cultural capital, one might perhaps be able to do so through the

concept of trait emotional intelligence.

The  Research  Problem  and  Goals  

The research aims to re-examine the concept of cultural capital through two

aforementioned oppositions: the debate on cultural reproduction vs. cultural mobility

theory, and the debate on cultural hierarchy vs. omnivorous thesis, but with an added

psychological dimension, which might perhaps bring more insight into the nexus and

the nature of the study's three key concepts, namely cultural capital, career maturity

and trait emotional intelligence. The study's overall goal is to examine such an

expanded view of cultural capital in order to investigate whether such a

sociopsychological understanding of cultural capital could perhaps be meaningful to

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educational research, and to see which sides of the two oppositions are supported in

the study's specific setting.

RESEARCH  QUESTIONS  

The overall aim of the study will be pursued through the following research questions:

1. What is the nature of the relationship between the three concepts of career

maturity, cultural capital and trait emotional intelligence?

2. What is the structure of career maturity, cultural capital and trait emotional

intelligence in students from families with higher cultural and socioeconomic

capital as opposed to students from families with lower cultural and

socioeconomic capital?

The research questions are supported by the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Cultural capital and career maturity will be positively correlated

Hypothesis 2: Cultural capital and trait emotional intelligence will be positively

correlated

SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  STUDY  

The study is significant because it employs a new, wider understanding of cultural

capital that entails two psychological concepts, thus aiming to bridge the gap between

sociology and psychology in the investigation of this important and popular

sociological concept. This new and enhanced understanding could benefit students by

enabling researchers and educational professionals to better target certain parts of the

students' cultural capital and habitus in order to raise their career maturity or trait

emotional intelligence, and vice versa. In this way the research could open up new

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paths towards improving the social and cultural mobility of students by employing

psychological as well as sociological tools.

The study will also provide Slovenian translations of two of its measures, namely

the CMI (Career Maturity Inventory) and the TEIQ-ue Short Form (Trait Emotional

Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form), and will validate them on a Slovenian

sample. These are two excellent psychometric measures (The British Psychological

Society, 2013), and their Slovenian translations have not been attempted before.

LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  STUDY    

Several limitations and delimitations of the present study might impede the value of

its findings. Firstly, the sample is too small and too homogeneous to be able to fully

answer the debate on cultural reproduction vs. cultural mobility in Slovenian society,

or to provide a comprehensive answer to the structure of the investigated concepts

within different socioeconomic settings. The study's findings are therefore tentative

and suggestive in this particular aspect.

Secondly, although the psychometric measures used are of high quality, the

translations of such measures tend to be checked longitudinally in order to consolidate

their validity. Although the reliability of the two Slovenian translations was good, as

shown in section Validity and Reliability, it could be further improved with a

longitudinal study of several improved translations. The cultural capital survey could

be further improved too, including more detailed measures of social and cultural

stratification.

The design of the study is cross-sectional, but the study would have benefited

from an added longitudinal perspective. If one were to observe the three key concepts

over time, one could gain an understanding of what forms them, especially because all

three of them reflect an overall developmental process. With a longitudinal study one

could, for example, observe the effects of personal and contextual factors on the

investigated concepts.

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THE  THREE  MAIN  CONCEPTS  OF  THE  STUDY  

Career  Maturity  

There are two prevalent conceptualizations of career maturity. The first

conceptualization argues that career maturity is the ability and knowledge to make

realistic career decisions or cope with the career tasks “appropriate to one's life stage”

(Super, 1977), whereas the second argues that it is “one's disposition to confront

vocational or career development tasks as they are encountered, as compared to others

who are in the same stage of life and facing the same developmental tasks.”

(González, 2008, p. 753) The two contending theories differ in what the point of

measurement should be: Donald Super argued that maturity should be measured

relative to the individual's developmental stage, whereas John Crites argued that

maturity should be a measure of an individual's maturity compared to others who find

themselves in the same stage of the development of maturity (but might differ in age),

for example students in the so-called “exploratory age” (15-21 years). (González,

2008, p. 753) Two models have therefore emerged, and they differ in the factors they

employ to measure what they purport to measure. Super's model uses the factors of

planfulness, exploration resources, information, decision-making and orientation, and

scores them with 19 variables (Savickas, 1990). Crites' model employs three levels:

the degree of development; factor level (composed of consistency, realism,

competencies and attitudes) and the variable level (20 all in all) (Crites, 1978).

Crites' model seems to be more appropriate to the research setting and the

research goals of the present study which shall investigate the career maturity of

students who all find themselves in the same developmental stage, and would like to

determine the differences in career maturity within one sample. Therefore the study

shall employ Crites' operationalization of career maturity.

Mark Savickas (1990), who defined it as the “degree of readiness to make

realistic career choices,” (p. 1) further developed this operationalization. Its most

fundamental construct is career choice concern, which Crites argues is sustained by

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the attitudes of orientation and involvement. Crites believed that individuals who

show a genuine concern for their career choices are ready to take control of their

decision-making. But this sense of control needs to be maintained by attitudes of

independence, deciviness and compromise. In summary,

Students should approach career choice tasks with concern for their futures, a sense

of personal control over their careers, the curiosity to experiment with posible selves

and explore social opportunities, and the confidence to engage in designing their

occupational futures and executing plans to make them real. (Savickas, The Theory

and Practice of Career Construction, 2005)

This echoes an interesting finding from recent research on the patterns of enrolment,

efficiency and completion among Swedish students, namely:

From this dominant discourse a vision of ideal students emerges: they should be

young, efficient and determined in their choice of educational investments, preferably

in utilised areas of labour and should not spend unnecessary time at the university.

They should graduate in the expected normal time, be employed and contribute to the

economic production of society. (Carlhed, The Social Space of Educational

Strategies: Exploring Patterns of Enrolment, Efficiency and Completion among

Swedish Students in Undergraduate Programmes with Professional Qualifications,

2016)

It seems that the theory of career maturity aims to produce just such students.

Therefore the concept of career maturity could perhaps have wider implications for

both the practice and theory of education. For example, recent research shows that

“wrong choice of education” (Carlhed, Measuring continuation and dropout rates

among teacher training stragglers) increases the risk of droput. A study by Janeiro and

Marques (2010) confirms that poorly thought-out decisions will end in personal

dissatisfaction, as well as in “school failure” (p. 36). Therefore studies have aimed to

understand the reasons for dropping out, and ways to improve the retention of

students (Comptroller and Auditor General National Audit Office, 2007; Jones, 2008;

Davies & Elias, 2003).    

Research on career maturity has explored the various factors that might

influence it, ranging from various personal and contextual predictors (Lent, Brown, &

  17  

Hackett, 2000), self-efficacy (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001),

self-esteem (Bloor & Brook, 1993) and pressure for achievement (Armacost, 1989),

but perhaps an investigation of the associations between cultural capital, trait

emotional intelligence and career maturity could shed more light on how to enhance

all three of them.

Trait  Emotional  Intelligence  

Career maturity shares its tales of early struggles with the concept of trait emotional

intelligence. Just as Super and Crites could not agree on a uniform definition of the

concept of career maturity, so there have been two rather different approaches to the

measurement of emotional intelligence. The first one considers emotional intelligence

to be a type of cognitive-emotional ability, and aims to measure it with maximum

performance measures, namely questions or situations to which one must find the

correct answer or response. The second approach considers emotional intelligence to

be a construct that is located at the lower levels of personality hierarchies, and is thus

measured with self-report measures, meaning statements to which one responds with

a degree of agreement or disagreement (Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, The location of

trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space, 2007). The theory behind such

an approach is that it is only the respondent that has full access to the information

concerning his or her emotional “ability”, or in other words, the perceptions of his or

her emotional world. Trait emotional intelligence or trait EI is therefore often labeled

as trait emotional self-efficacy, which is a clearer, albeit a longer name. Despite it

being a relatively new construct there is already a long line of research that has found

positive correlations between trait EI and highly relevant educational issues, such as

cognitive ability and academic performance (Qualter, Gardner, Pope, Hutchinson, &

Whiteley, 2012; Agnoli, Mancini, Pozzoli, Baldaro, Russo, & Surcinelli, 2012),

reduced deviant behavior (Petrides, Frederickson, & Furnham, The role of trait

emotional intelligence in academic performance and deviant behavior at school,

2004), creativity (Sanchez-Ruiz, Pérez-González, & Petrides, 2010), as well as

leadership (Siegling, Nielsen, & Petrides, 2014), which could be, as another study

  18  

implies, a valuable finding for research “in relation to graduate employability” (Pool

& Qualter, 2012).

Due to a growing body of research on trait EI and a growing number of

findings that confirm its unique relevance within the educational field, it would seem

relevant to investigate its association with the construct of career maturity. Research

on the influence that personality traits have on the selection of educational majors has

provided new evidence that “self-efficacy and interests are unique and not redundant

with personality traits” (Lisa, Wu, Bailey, Gasser, Bonitz, & Borgen, 2010, p. 220).

Here one could take the question further by wondering what role cultural capital plays

in the formation of these traits and interests, which is in a way, although in a rather

limited way, what the present research aims to understand.

Cultural  Capital  

Cultural capital is a concept coined by Bourdieu and is a vital part of his

comprehensive perspective on capital as a determining factor of social stratification.

He argues that there are three forms of capital available to us, namely economic,

social and cultural. Economic capital is money or wealth that we possess; social

capital is “a network of lasting social relations” (Bourdieu, The Three Forms of

Theoretical Knowledge, 1973), whereas cultural capital is the capital we gain from

our education and upbringing. Cultural capital, according to Bourdieu, takes shape in

three forms: the character of the individual that possesses it, as expressed in the form

of dispositions, accent, etc.; the form of objects and credentials such an individual

possesses, for example academic certificates, books and other tools of knowledge; and

the network of academic and educational institutions that shape an individuals

worldview and social space, such as universities, libraries, etc. Clearly, Bourdieu's

take on these various forms of capital was of a social nature, and he argued that some

groups inherit more of these forms of capital, whereas others inherit less (or have no

access to them at all). (Bourdieu, The Three Forms of Theoretical Knowledge, 1973)

Bourdieu essentially believed the educational system to be one of reproduction

of inequality. Bourdieu's seminal work gave rise to a long lineage of research on the

relationships between the various forms of capital and their effect on social equality,

  19  

mobility, educational achievement, etc. There have been issues with the

operationalization and measurement of the concept (Kingston, 2001; Lamont &

Lareau, 1988), but these conceptual and methodological obstacles have not prevented

a great number of researchers from tackling the subject. Paul DiMaggio defined

cultural capital as non-scholastic cultural participation, arguing that “high culture is

an element of elite culture that schoolteachers appear to regard as legitimate”

(DiMaggio, 1982, p. 191). His findings contradicted the view of Bourdieu that

cultural capital is a direct inheritence of parental background, and found a more

common view with that of cultural mobility in the USA. Other studies have supported

Bourdieu, such as a study on educational attainment in Denmark, which shows that

“cultural and social capital are the key predictors of educational attainment” (Jaeger

& Holm, Does parents’ economic, cultural, and social capital explain the social class

effect on educational attainment in the Scandinavian mobility regime?, 2007, p. 719).

These different results are probably down to the different operationalizations

and measurements of cultural capital. DiMaggio was only interested in non-scholastic

participation in highbrow culture; Dumais expanded the concept to include the

variable of habitus or the individual's occupational aspirations (Dumais S. A., 2006),

whereas Jaeger and Holm (2007) included measures on foreign language acquisition.

Lareau and Weininger (2003) later blended cultural capital with social capital, and

measured the influence of parents in the development of cultural resources of their

children. Bourdieu (1977) did include parent's tastes and dispositions into the concept

of cultural capital but not as an active strategy of parents to achieve a certain social

status, but rather as a silent, deterministic undercurrent that reproduces social

inequality. The aforementioned study on cultural capital, class and education in

Norway concludes that educational recruitment is still a system of social reproduction

(Gripsrud, Hovden, & Moe, 2011, p. 514). But although there is a large body of

research that claims that educational attainment is positively correlated with class

background, there is also a substantial amount of studies that show the opposite and

support the claim that “many young people from disadvantaged circumstances do well

at school and break with their class background.” (Johansson & Höjer, 2012, p. 1136)

Certain researchers, however, contend that the question of social mobility should not

be viewed as an issue of cultural capital at all, but rather as an issue of risk aversion,

meaning that children from the lower classses do not pursue more education because

the costs of such a pursuit outweigh their possible utility (Jaeger & Holm, Does

  20  

Relative Risk Aversion explain educational inequality? A dynamic choice approach,

2008, p. 202).

In any case, educational attainment is correlated with both income and

happiness (Lee & Bowen, 2006). Therefore it continues to make sense to explore

what leads to higher educational levels, and how those translate into other benefits.

But Dumais stresses that to “acquire cultural capital, a student must have the ability to

receive and internalize it” (Dumais S. A., 2002, p. 44). And yet the schools, according

to Dumais, do not provide this ability to their students. Should the ability to receive

and benefit from cultural capital with all its consequences be understood as part and

parcel of cultural capital itself? This is where the present research seeks a bridge into

a psychological examination, and the reason why it aims to explore the relationship

between cultural capital and trait emotional intelligence or trait emotional self-

efficacy, as well as career maturity, which has recently been correlated with

emotional competencies. (Brown, George-Curran, & Smith, 2003)

THE  STUDY'S  OPERATIONALIZATION  OF  CULTURAL  CAPITAL  

The present study operationalizes cultural capital through two oppositions, all of

which are part and parcel of Bourdieu's original concept, as well as the many

operationalizations that followed it and are present in the literature. The first

opposition is the aforementioned opposition between cultural reproduction and

cultural mobility. Cultural reproduction theory claims that cultural capital benefits

students from families which already possess more of it, wheres cultural mobility

claims that it is students from disadvantaged backgrounds that get higher returns on

their cultural capital. This is therefore the “theoretical opposition”. In its practical

manifestation it concerns the acquisition of cultural capital: Bourdieu himself claimed

(Bourdieu & Passeron, Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, 1977), and

studies have shown (Cheung & Andersen, 2003; Lareau & Weininger, 2003) that

cultural capital is either inherited or acquired. It can therefore be gained either

passively or actively, or both.

The second opposition concerns the embodied form of cultural capital,

habitus, which is expressed in our taste, language, mannerisms, familiarity with

  21  

culture, etc. Bourdieu and most studies have used highbrow cultural capital as the

norm for legitimate habitus (Aschaffenburg & Maas, 1997; Kalmijn & Kraaykamp,

1996; Wildhagen, 2009). But while Bourdieu in his time suggested that high status

groups shun popular entertainment (Levine, 1988), newer research suggests a shift in

taste and elite status markers to a more eclectic inclusion (Peterson & Kern, 1996, p.

900). The second opposition is therefore the opposition between highbrow culture and

lowbrow culture, and is called the “opposition of taste”.

The sketch below (Figure 1) shows the interplay of both oppositions as

hypothesized by the present study:

VERSUS

ACTIVE & PASSIVE ACTIVE

VERSUS

HIGHBROW HIGH & LOWBROW

Figure 1: The two theoretical oppositions

The figure suggests that the cultural reproduction model will include both passive or

inherited and active acquisition of cultural capital, while the habitus will be geared

towards highbrow culture, as maintained by Bourdieu's cultural hierarchy thesis. The

cultural mobility model will include mostly the active acquisition of cultural capital,

whereas the habitus will be a mix of highbrow and lowbrow culture, as maintained by

the omnivorous thesis.

CULTURAL  REPRODUCTION  

CULTURAL    MOBILITY  

CULTURAL  HIERARCHY  

OMNIVOROUS  THESIS  

  22  

THE  RESEARCH  SETTING  

 

Slovenian  Society  

The study has a cross-sectional comparative design at the level of schools and

classrooms, according to the famous Bray cube (Bray, Adamson, & Mason, 2007).

Therefore it might seem unnecessary to discuss the structure of Slovenian society.

However, it would seem relevant to at least inform the reader briefly since the

aforementioned theoretical opposition of the study, namely the opposition between

the cultural reproduction model and the cultural mobility model, is influenced by the

society at large.

Slovenia is a postsocialist state that has, after gaining its independence from

Yugoslavia in 1991, experienced a growth and expansion of services, technology and

the professional sector. This move into a postindustrial society meant a change in the

class structure, as well as a change in the symbolic capital those classes possessed.

The growth of the professional and technological sector means that the growing

middle class now attributes its privileged social status mostly to the possession of

scientific knowhow, information and bureaucray (Esping-Andersen, 1993). If

Slovenia's social landscape is viewed through the lens of Erik O. Wright's neomarxist

theory, which stresses the importance of understanding the relationships of

exploitation and power, then one can see that the structure of Slovenian society is

slowly transforming from a pyramid structure to a diamond structure (Zavadlav, 2010,

p. 25), meaning that the middle class is growing and the technical nature of labor is

shifting. The consequence of this shift is that the proletariat is losing its place in the

capitalist core, whereas the core itself is becoming increasingly defined by its cultural

capital and knowhow, in addition to its economic capital, which has always been the

key cog of an individual's social position (Zavadlav, 2010, p. 33). In 2006, 15 years

after independence, the Slovenian lower middle class was almost twice the size of the

upper middle class (55% to 28,2%) (Javornik, 2006), whereas the lower and the upper

classes shrank. This indicates that the income inequality was reduced and that the

Slovenian society acquired a diamond shape, according to Wright. Despite the

financial crisis that hit the Slovenian banking and service sector hard, and has

  23  

contributed to a thinning out of the upper middle class (Kos, 2011), the overall shape

is still that of a diamond. However, the structure of that middle class differs from

other capitalist states, as it is a reflection of the transition from a postsocialist state to

a postindustrial capitalist society.

There are three groups that form the middle class of today's Slovenia: the old

middle class who are mostly various business owners and farmers; the new middle

class who are mostly various highly skilled workers, technicians and officials who

managed to gain social status and economic benefits through the workers' self-

management processes (their main capital is therefore social, not cultural); and the

third group are the professionals. The latter have some form of tertiary education, and

are the intellectuals of the Slovenian society. They are estimated to form around 10%

of the Slovenian adult population (Kos, Struktura slojev slovenske družbe, 1993).

Slovenian  Educational  System  

Slovenian educational system is almost completely financed by the state, and in very

small part by the local authorities. The structure of the system has undergone quite a

few changes in recent years, especially with the introduction of the Bologna system at

the tertiary level, and a program of reforms aimed at improving the secondary and

higher vocational education. The percentage of adults aged 25-64 who have attained

at least a secondary education in Slovenia is relatively high: in 2014 the number was

85,7 %, which is significantly above the EU average. This difference is maintained at

all age levels. In 2014 the percentage of adult population with tertiary education

reached the EU average for the first time, but Slovenia has a higher percentage of

young adults with tertiary education qualifications. In 2014 the percentage of adults

aged between 30 and 34 reached 43,7 %, with 56,3 % of those being women. But

Slovenian tertiary education is infamous for its slow pace and poor effectiveness,

resulting in high numbers of stragglers, therefore the number of adults in the age

group 25-29 in 2014 was lower than the EU average: 32,4 % compared to the EU

average of 35,9 % (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, 2016).

Slovenian upper secondary education, which is of greatest interest to the

present study, consists of vocational and technical schools, as well as general

  24  

secondary schools called “gimnazija” (gymnasium). The latter aim to prepare students

for tertiary education. They form two distinct groups: general programs and

professionally oriented programs, namely technical, economic and art programs. The

present study will investigate its research goals in three of those: the general program,

the technical and the art program of the general secondary schools.

The  Two  Schools:  Gymnasium  Lava  and  Gymnasium  Celje-­‐Center  

The two schools that provide the research setting for the present investigation are

located in the city of Celje in the Savinjska region of The Republic of Slovenia. Celje

is Slovenia's third largest town with a population of 37.540 residents (2015 census). It

hosts 3 large general secondary schools, as well as several other secondary and

primary schools. The study took place at two of those general secondary schools,

gymnasiums, namely gymnasium Lava and gymnasium Celje-Center.

Gymnasium Lava conducts three gymnasium programs, all of which differ in

their curricula: the general gymnasium program (4 classes), the technical program (1

class) and the European program (1 class). All of these enable the students to progress

into tertiary education. The curriculum of the technical gymnasium is already aimed

towards university studies in the technical subjects or natural sciences, such as

enginnering or computer science. The European program was established in the

school year 2004/05. It is similar to the general program but with slight modifications,

such as two semesters of exchange studies (one intranational, the other international),

a focus on foreign languages acquisition, a focus on social issues, politics and an

international perspective on public matters. Each year around 140 new students enroll

into all of the programs.

Gymnasium Celje-Center also runs three gymnasium programs: the general

gymnasium program (4 classes), the art program (1 class) and the pre-school teachers

program (1 class). As with the programs at gymnasium Lava, all of these enable the

students to progress to university studies, however, two of them are already

professionally geared: the art program towards studying various art related programs,

and the pre-school teachers program towards studying pedagogy for preschool

education. Each year around 140 new students enroll into all of the programs.

  25  

At the end of their 4-year studies students undertake state-wide external

examinations (Matura); the grades on that exam, coupled with the grades acquired

throughout the gymnasium program, either overall success or the success in certain

subjects (different tertiary programs have different entrance criteria and demands),

combine into an overall score that determines whether they can or cannot enter their

chosen university program. The decision on which program a student would like to

pursue is officially made in the last year of the gymnasium program. However, one

could venture to say that they actually make that decision (or that the decision is made

for them) much sooner than that, should one follow Bourdieu (Bourdieu & Passeron,

Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, 1977).

RESEARCH  METHODOLOGY    

The study is based on the principles of the post-positivist paradigm in educational and

psychological research, following the assumptions of researchers such as Cook and

Campbell (1979). Its principles posit that there is one reality that is somewhat

knowable within a framework that is based on a certain level of probability if the rules

of objectivity are followed and the research questions are approached in a

dispassionate manner. However, this reality is not completely within our reach

because of the limitations of the researcher. The researcher in the present study

therefore aimed to remain as neutral as possible to reduce the probability of bias.

Standardized surveys were used, and the surveys were administered in exactly the

same way and in exactly the same conditions to every respondent in the sample.

Several well-developed scientific theories were used as a framework for the study,

and the methodology employed was based on established statistical procedures.

  26  

Research  Design  and  Sampling  

This is a quantitative cross-sectional study with comparative and case study elements.

It collects data from a variety of respondents at a single point in time in order to look

for variation within the sample. The targeted population of the study are the

gymnasium students at 2 gymnasium schools in Slovenia. The variation of programs

at both schools makes this case a representative or typical case (Bryman, 2012, p. 70).

Because the study's findings relate to the overall relevance of cultural capital the

research design is also a cross-sectional one (Bryman, 2012, p. 69).

The two schools that were chosen for research provided access to their entire

4th year cohorts, therefore the issue of non-response was completely avoided

(Bryman, 2012, p. 199). Only relationships between variables can be observed in such

a study (Bryman, 2012, p. 59), therefore the research does not attempt to draw any

causal or developmental inferences.

The study uses measures with excellent psychometric properties that are

grounded on well-developed theories in order to ensure good reliability and validity.

The process of designing measures, selecting respondents, administering the surveys,

as well as analysing data is described in detail in order to provide replicability for

other future researchers.

Ethical  Considerations  

The study takes a Universalist ethical stance, maintaining that ethical principles

should never be broken. Bryman’s (2012) ethical guidelines and tips to protect

confidentiality and to guarantee informed consent (p. 137) were followed strictly:

surveys did not include respondents' names; respondents were informed of the nature,

methods and aims of the study and were made aware that their participation in the

study means that they consent to it; they were also “made aware of their entitlement to

refuse at any stage for whatever reason and to withdraw data just supplied.” (p. 138)

  27  

Data  Collection  and  Data  Processing  

The schools were contacted in early January 2016, and the data was collected and

processed in April 2016. The researcher travelled to Slovenia and administered the

three surveys in paper form to the respondents during their school time under the

supervision of the present teacher. The scores for trait emotional intelligence were

later calculated in SPSS using the syntax provided by the test developer. The scores

for career maturity were later calculated using software that was developed by the

researcher for this particular purpose. In this way the danger of error in calculating the

scores was avoided. The scores of both psychometric measures and the cultural

capital survey were then coded into SPSS by the researcher, creating dummy

variables where needed.

MEASURES  AND  QUESTIONNAIRES  

Two psychometric surveys and one questionnaire were used to measure the three key

concepts of the study.

Career  Maturity  Inventory  or  CMI  

To measure career maturity the new and revised form of Crites' Career Maturity

Inventory was used, namely Career Maturity Inventory Form C (Appendix 1). This is

a revised and shortened form of the original Career Maturity Inventory, and is

available free of charge for academic and research purposes.

The form measures career choice readiness, in adition to four scale scores that

relate to various aspects of career adaptability, namely concern, curiosity and

confidence, as well as a score that reflects the relational style respondents take in

making their choices, meaning whether they tend to rely on their friends and family

more, or whether they tend to be more independent. The form has good reliability and

validity (Savickas & Porfeli, 2011, p. 356). It was designed specifically for use with

school populations, up until the age of 18, which fits the study's sample. Its

  28  

underlying theory is Savickas’ career construction theory (2005). Its central concept is

the model of career adaptability, which is defined as a “multidimensional construct

that characterizes an individual’s psychosocial readiness and resources for coping

with current and imminent vocational development tasks, occupational transitions,

and work traumas.” (Savickas & Porfeli, 2011, p. 357)

Once the respondents denote their degree of agreement or disagreement with

the 24 statements on the CMI C form they receive a total score of career choice

readiness (based on the factors of concern, curiosity and confidence), which shows

“an individual’s degree of adaptability in career decision making and readiness to

make occupational choices.” (Savickas & Porfeli, 2011, p. 360), as well as four factor

scores for concern, curiosity, confidence and consultation. The factor of concern

shows an individual's involvement in his or her decision-making; the factor of

curiosity denotes how much the respondent aims to inform him or herself on the

context of the career decision; the factor of confidence denotes the degree of faith the

respondent has in making a wise and realistic choice. And the consultation factor

simply denotes the degree of indepence the respondent exhibits in his or her decision-

making. Higher scores mean better career maturity, except for the last factor, the

consultation factor, where the score simply reflects the respondent's relational style.

The researcher produced a Slovenian translation of the measure (Appendix 2).

TEIQ-­‐ue  Short  Form  

The trait emotional intelligence questionnaire, or the TEIQ-ue, is the scientific

measurement tool used to measure trait emotional intelligence, as defined by the

comprehensive theory of trait EI, developed by dr. Konstantin Vasily Petrides at the

world-renowned Psychometric Laboratory at UCL in London (Appendix 3). The

model incorporates 15 different facets (such as adaptability, emotion control,

assertiveness, self-esteem, trait empathy, etc.), and assesses all of them via 15

subscales. These subscales join into 4 factors: wellbeing, self-control, emotionality

and sociability. As mentioned above, these scores are not a measure of cognitive

ability. Instead, they measure and reflect “self-perceived abilities and behavioural

dispositions.” (Petrides, London Psychometric Laboratory, 2016, p.1) The well-being

  29  

score is largely a reflection of the other three factors, and it denotes “a generalized

sense of well-being.” (Petrides, London Psychometric Laboratory, 2016, p. 6) A high

score on the self-control factor means that the respondent has good control over his or

her urges, as well as good ability to manage stress. The emotionality factor denotes

the emotion-related skills of the respondents, and their ability to use those skills to

build relationships. The sociability factor is somewhat related to the emotionality

factor, but the emphasis here is on social relationships and social interaction (Petrides,

London Psychometric Laboratory, 2016, p. 7). The TEIQ-ue is currently one of the

strongest psychometric measures in the world within personality studies, due to its

excellent psychometric properties, which makes it a higly reliable and valid tool (The

British Psychological Society, 2013). The researcher aimed to provide a Slovenian

translation that would maintain the psychometric qualities of the original (Appendix

4).

Cultural  Capital  Survey  

To measure the cultural capital of the respondents the researcher devised a survey in

both English and Slovenian that aims to provide a comprehensive measure of this

often contentiously operationalized term (Appendix 5 and Appendix 6). A literature

review of the various operationalizations begins with DiMaggio (1982) who used

participation in highbrow culture of both children and parents as the measure of

cultural capital; his approach was later expanded by several researchers to include

measures of reading habits (Cheung & Andersen, 2003), extracurricular activities

(Covay & Carbonaro, 2010), as well as the interaction between parents and children

on various cultural or social issues (Jaeger, Equal Access but Unequal Outcomes:

Cultural Capital and Educational Choice in a Meritocratic Society, 2009).

The variables were divided into several meaningful groups and subgroups,

aiming to capture both the habitus and the educational capital of students as two

interrelated and key aspects of cultural capital (Bourdieu, Cultural Reproduction and

Social Reproduction, 1973). Many aspects were included, so that cultural capital

could be measured in depth and with a comprehensive scope. In this way the measure

could show the subtle differences between the groups in this sample, which was

  30  

expected to be rather homogeneous. A few measures of the family educational capital

and socioeconomic background were included too, although these were not as

comprehensive and reliable as the measures of cultural capital.

Categories  of  Cultural  Capital  Variables  

The students' cultural capital was captured through 4 categories of variables: interests,

activities, family communication, and membership in various groups. The students'

habitus was captured through their film knowledge and taste, their reading

preferences, and their musical preferences. Their educational capital was measured

through their school grades, study choices, and their family's educational capital.

Their socioeconomic background was tentatively measured through the employment

of their parents, and the type of scholarship they receive. Variables categorized as

»other« were gender, age, school, and the program they attend.

Table 1: The categories of variables measured by the cultural capital survey

CULTURAL CAPITAL HABITUS

B1 Interests

B2 Activities

B3 + B8 Family communication

B9 Membership

B4 Movies

B5 + B7 Reading preferences

B6 Musical preferences

EDUCATIONAL CAPITAL SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND

A1 + A2 School grades

A3 Tertiary study choice

A5 Family educational capital

A4 Scholarship

A6 Parents' employment

OTHER: gender, age, program, school

All of these categories were designed with the intention of capturing the full scope of

the oppositions that lie at the heart of the study. The active vs. passive acquisition of

cultural capital is captured through the categories of interests (B1), activities (B2) and

  31  

membership (B9) on the active side, and the categories of family communication

(B3+B8) and family educational capital (A5) on the passive side. The highbrow vs.

lowbrow opposition is captured within every category of habitus measures, as there is

a multitude of reading and musical genres to choose from, ranging from classical

music and jazz to hiphop and folk music.

OPERATIONALIZATION  OF  CULTURAL  CAPITAL  VARIABLES  

There were 79 variables in total (Appendix 5). The aim of the study was to investigate

a comprehensive interpretation of cultural capital. Therefore the variables were

divided into clustering variables and evaluative variables. The statistical procedure

used for data analysis, the two-step cluster analysis, enables and encourages such a

division (Norušis, 2012, p. 380). The study benefited from the option to only form

clusters with the variables that measured the cultural capital and habitus of the

respondents, and then observe the nature of the clusters with the evaluative variables

of educational capital and test scores. Such an oppositional operationalization was in

line with the aforementioned oppositional construction of variables.

Table 2: The operationalization of variables in preparation for the two-step cluster analysis

CLUSTERING VARIABLES EVALUATIVE VARIABLES

CULTURAL CAPITAL (ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE) EDUCATIONAL CAPITAL

HABITUS (HIGHBROW VS. MAINSTREAM) TEST SCORES

OTHER

  32  

VALIDITY  AND  RELIABILITY  

Once the data was coded into the SPSS database reliability checks for the trait

emotional intelligence survey and the career maturity test were first performed to

ensure the validity and reliability of the Slovenian translations. The researcher wanted

to make sure that the reliability of both translated measures was in accord with the

original reliability measures, which would mean that they both provided reliable data

that could be used in further analysis.

The results of the reliability checks for the translations of the two well-

established psychometric measures were comparable to those of the original surveys:

Cronbach's alpha for career maturity (structured from the factors of concern, curiosity

and confidence on the Career Maturity Inventory survey) was 0,719 (n = 223, one

item excluded), whereas the Cronbach's alpha of global trait emotional intelligence

score and its 4 subfactors on the TEIQU-e short form survey was the following: well-

being (0,814), self-control Alpha (0,581), emotionality (0,712), sociability (0,662),

and global trait EI (0,877). These results are in line with the literature on the original

versions (Petrides, Psychometric Properties of the Trait Emotional Intelligence

Questionnaire (TEIQue), 2009; Savickas & Porfeli, 2011), and in line with the

international guidelines (DeVellis, 2003).

Strengthening  the  Reliability  of  the  Cultural  Capital  Survey    

Three problems emerged once the answers to the cultural capital survey were coded

into SPSS. The first problem was the problem of missing values, meaning that

respondents did not answer certain questions. The second problem was the problem of

low values, meaning that certain categories of frequencies received only a few

responses. The third problem was the problem of multicolinearity. Multicolinearity

means that certain variables are highly correlated, which the researcher aimed to

avoid because it inhibits the distinctive value of variables (Norušis, 2012).

  33  

To solve these problems two procedures were employed. The first one was the

merging of certain categories of variables. The second procedure was the exclusion of

variables that were either highly correlated or were plagued by a high degree of

missing values.

Merging  of  Categories    

This procedure solves the problem of low-response categories. Several variables were

therefore recoded into same variables in SPSS, meaning that their categories were

merged into wider categories in order to ensure more responses per category. The

categories of these variables were then renamed. The categories of M.A. degree and

PhD degree were, for example, merged into one category, with the argumentation that

the difference between an M.A. degree and a PhD degree is not relevant in light of the

oppositional nature of the study since both denote a high level of educational capital.

Other categories that were merged were, for example, categories of frequencies,

which were renamed into categories such as “rarely, regularly, often; or “never,

sometimes, regularly”, depending on the definition and spread of the original

categories. 6 variables were merged in this way.

Exclusion  of  Variables  

In order to solve the problem of multicolinearity and missing values several variables

were excluded. The exclusion criteria were established after crosstabulations revealed

either a high correlation between certain variables or a high degree of missing values.

All in all, 19 variables were excluded.

  34  

Table 3: The list of excluded variables

EXCLUDED VARIABLES (19 variables)

Excluded due to missing

values

Excluded due to either

multicolinearity or low

distinctive value

Excluded for other

theoretical reasons

• Grade_S1_3y

• Grade_S1_4y

• Grade_S2_3y

• Grade_S2_4y

• Choice2

• Act_other

• Memb_polit

• Freq_news

• Freq_politics

• Freq_sports

• Freq_culture

• Act_musiclit

• Act_parents

• Matrix1

• Fantasy_lit

• Memb_other

• Library

• Act_parents

• Grade_4y

• School

There were now 60 remaining variables. These had categories with good response

levels, were not highly correlated with each other, and yet theoretically still seemed to

measure the various aspects of both cultural capital and habitus.

  35  

DATA  ANALYSIS  

 

 

Statistical  Procedures  Used  

Firstly, a reliability analysis was run in SPSS to check for Cronbach's alpha, “the most

widely used objective measure of reliability,” (Tavakol & Dennick, 2011, p. 53) of

the two psychometric measures used, as detailed above.

The statistical procedure that was used to understand how cultural capital

differentiates between groups of gymnasium students, and how those groups differ in

terms of their career maturity and trait emotional intelligence, is called two-step

cluster analysis. The two-step cluster analysis is an exploratory statistical tool that

reveals natural groups or clusters within a sample. The benefits of the two-step cluster

procedure are that it determines the optimal number of clusters, and that it handles

mixed variables well, meaning data with continous and categorical variables (Norušis,

2012). This is exactly what the study's data set contained: continous variables were

the variables that denoted test scores, whereas categorical variables were all the other.

Another benefit of this type of cluster analysis is that it enables an easy and

simple division of clustering and evaluative variables, as was mentioned before. This

means that certain variables can be applied to the formation of clusters, whereas

cluster data can later also be calculated for the variables that were not used in cluster

creation, namely the evaluative variables (Norušis, 2012). This would seem to further

alleviate the problem of multicolinearity.

The two-step cluster analysis was complemented with descriptive statistics,

such as crosstabulations, to dig deeper into the clusters and the composition of the

variables that form them.

  36  

Sample  Descriptive  Statistics  

There were 224 respondents (n = 224), the response rate was 100%. 25,4% of the

respondents were male, 74,1% were female. 58% of the respondents attended the

general gymnasium program, 9,4% the technical program, 12,1% the European

program, and 5,8% attended the art program. 17,9% of the respondents decided to

study natural sciences, 19,2% engineering and technology, 8,5% medical and health

sciences, 6,3% agricultural sciences, 39,3% social sciences, and 7,6% of the

respondents aimed to study humanities. More than half of the respondents (52,2%)

have a scholarship: 37,9% receive a social scholarship for students from

disadvantaged families, 11,6% receive a scholarship for gifted students, and 2,7%

receive a vocational scholarship provided by companies and businesses. Most of the

students' parents have a high school education, or they finished some kind of a

vocational program: 36,2% of mothers and 37,5% of fathers. 89,7% of mothers are

employed, and 87,1% of fathers. Only 16,1% of the students in the entire sample will

follow the study or career paths of their mothers, and only 13,8% the study or career

paths of their fathers.

The  Two-­‐Step  Cluster  Analysis  

The order of the cases was first randomised to ensure that the distances or similarities

between clusters in the cluster analysis were not a result of the ordering of the cases.

Random numbers were assigned to the cases with syntax that generates a random

sample (Kennesaw State University, 2010).

The variables that had been operationalized (see above) as clustering variables

were split into continous variables (test scores) and categorical variables (all the

other), and used for the formation of clusters. The number of clusters was set to be

determined automatically. The remaining variables, operationalized as evaluative

variables (see above), were used as cluster descriptors.

Here is the final list and categorization of both clustering and evaluative

variables:

  37  

Table 4: Clustering variables used in the two-step cluster analysis for the formation of the

clusters

CLUSTERING VARIABLES

( 39 variables)

Group A: Students' cultural capital

and habitus

A1 INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES:

• Freq_economy

• Freq_science

• Act_artvisit

• Act_creative

• Act_sports

• Act_politics

• Act_lang

A4 MUSIC PREFERENCES:

• Pop_mus

• Rock_mus

• Jazz_mus

• Classical_ mus

• Punk_ mus

• Reagge_ mus

• Folk_ mus

• Hiphop_ mus

• Balkan_ mus

• EDM_mus

• Metal_mus

• Other_mus

A2 FILM KNOWLEDGE AND

TASTE:

• Godfather1

• Pulp_Fiction

• Lord_Rings

• Petelinji

• Gremo_mi

A5 FAMILY CULTURAL CAPITAL

AND COMMUNICATION:

• Politics_family

• Social_ family

• Arts_ family

• Science_ family

A3 READING PREFERENCES:

• Classic_lit

• Detective_lit

• Scifi_lit

• Comics_lit

• Poetry_lit

A6 MEMBERSHIPS AND SOCIAL

ENGAGEMENT:

• Memb_stud

• Memb_cult

• Memb_sport

• Memb_fire

  38  

• Drama_lit

• Other_lit

Table 5: Evaluative variables used as cluster descriptors in the two-step cluster analysis

EVALUATIVE VARIABLES

(21 variables)

B4 FAMILY EDUCATIONAL

CAPITAL:

• Edu_mother

• Edu_father

Group B: Students' educational capital

and socioeconomic status

Group C: Test scores

B1 GRADES:

• Grade_3y

C1 TRAIT EMOTIONAL

INTELLIGENCE:

• Tot_tei

• Well-being

• Self-control

• Emotionality

• Sociability

B2 STUDY CHOICE:

• Choice1

• Follow_mother

• Follow_father

C2 CAREER MATURITY:

• Career_mat

• Concern

• Curiosity

• Confidence

• Consultation

B3 SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS:

• Scholarship

• Employ_mother

• Employ_father

Group D: Other variables:

• Gender

• Program

  39  

Findings  of  the  Analysis  

The two-step cluster analysis revealed a three-cluster solution. There were only 5

missing values, or 2,2% of the entire sample. Clusters are of comparable sizes: cluster

3 contains 28,3% or 62 cases, cluster 1 contains 33,8% 74 cases, and cluster 2

contains 37,9% or 83 cases.

Figure 2: The two-step analysis cluster solution

A closer look at the three clusters revealed relevant differences among the groups.

These differences have been summarized in comparative tables below.

  40  

SUMMATIVE  AND  COMPARATIVE  TABLES  OF  CLUSTERS  

The summative and comparative tables have been divided at two levels: by clustering

and evaluative variables, and by categories of what they aim to measure. The first line

in every variable denotes the level of interest or score within that category; the second

line denotes how that level of interest or score compares with the other two groups

within that variable.

Evaluative  Variables:  Socioeconomic  Background  

Table 6: A summative and comparative table of socioeconomic variables

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Scholarship 30% social

12% gifted

5% vocational

50% social

10% gifted

34% social

13% gifted

Education mother Mean = 3,69

2nd

Mean = 3,41

3rd

Mean = 3,77

1st

Education father Mean = 3,45

2nd

Mean = 3,00

3rd

Mean = 3,49

1st

Employed mother 93,9%

1st

87,5%

3rd

93,4%

2nd

Employed father 89,9%

3rd

93%

2nd

96,4%

1st

Although the study lacks a comprehensive measure of socioeconomic background, the

data collected can provide some insight into the socioeconomic status of the clusters.

The table above shows that cluster 2 and cluster 3 are similar in terms of their

socioeconomic status, while cluster 1 is distinctly different. Both cluster 2 and cluster

3 have a similar share of respondents with social scholarships, while the differences in

  41  

the employment levels of parents are not substantial. The educational capital of their

families is also similar. Cluster 1, on the other hand, is characterized by both a lower

socioeconomic status, as revealed by the lower employment levels and the

substantially higher percentage of students on a social scholarship, and a lower

educational capital, as shown by the substantially lower levels of parental education.

One could therefore perhaps venture to assume that cluster 2 and cluster 3 together

represent a higher social stratum than cluster 1.

Evaluative  Variables:  Educational  Capital  and  Other  

Table 7: A summative and comparative table of school success and other variables

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Gender Mixed, 50 – 50 Heavily female

dominated 94,6%

Heavily female

dominated 83,9%

Gymnasium

program attended

General

Technical

General

European

Teacher

General

European

Art

(0% Technical)

Overall grade in

3rd year

Mean 3,59

3rd

Mean 3,78

2nd

Mean 3,80

1st

1st tertiary study

choice

Engineer. and tech.

Natural sciences

Social sciences

Medical sciences

Social sciences

Humanities

Study choice

follows mother

21,7%

1st

21,6%

2nd

19,4%

3rd

Study choice

follows father

31%

1st

15%

3rd

22,6%

2nd

Table 7 shows that the only cluster that is balanced in terms of gender is cluster 2,

while the other two clusters are heavily female dominated. Cluster 2 is, perhaps

  42  

unsurprisingly, also the cluster that contains the greatest share of students from the

technical program (mostly boys), whereas cluster 3 contains not one student from that

program. The academic success of cluster 2 is, however, the lowest of all three

groups, whereas cluster 1 and 3 are very close in that regard.

Clustering  Variables:  Interests  and  Activities  

In the tables that follow below, the first line for every variable denotes one out of

possible 9 levels of interest:

1. (low) low – low – (high) low

2. (low) moderate – moderate – (high) moderate

3. (low) high – high – (high) high

These levels were calculated according to cut-off rates that were assigned at equal

interval points between the maximum possible interest and the minimum possible

interest:

1. 0 – 0,3 = (low) low

2. 0,3 – 0,66 = low

3. 0,66 – 1 = (high) low

4. 1 – 1,33 = (low) moderate

5. 1,33 = 1,66 moderate

6. 1,66 – 2 = (high) moderate

7. 2 – 2,33 = (low) high

8. 2,33 – 2,66 = high

9. 2,66 – 3 = (high) high

For example, the maximum level of interest for the variable denoting creative activity

was 3 (often), and the minimum was 1 (rarely). Cluster 2 had a mean score of 1,12 in

this variable, cluster 1 a mean score of 1,55, and cluster 3 a mean score of 2,11.

Cluster 2 therefore shows a (low) moderate interest in creative activities, cluster 1 a

  43  

moderate interest, while cluster 3 has a (low) high interest in creative activities. The

data has been presented in this way in order to make it more comprehensible to the

reader.

Table 8: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' interests and activities

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Interest in economy (low) moderate

2nd

(low) moderate

3rd

(low) moderate

1st

Interest in science (high) moderate

1st

(low) moderate

3rd

moderate

2nd

Visiting galleries

and museums

(high) low

3rd

(high) low

2nd

moderate

1st

Creative activities (low) moderate

3rd

moderate

2nd

(low) high

1st

Sports (high) moderate

1st

(high) moderate

2nd

(low) moderate

3rd

Political activity Low

3rd

Low

2nd

(high) low

1st

Learning a foreign

language

(high) low

3rd

(high) low

2nd

(low) moderate

1st

There are noticeable differences between the clusters' interests and activities. Cluster

2, the largest cluster, shows but little interest in creative activities and highbrow

culture, as well as in political engagement or foreign languages, but has a noticeable

interest in science and sports. The smallest cluster, cluster 3, is almost diametrically

opposite: it shows a noticeable interest in higbrow culture and creative activities, as

well as foreign language acquisition, but doesn't care much for sports. If cluster 2 and

3 are considered together, as representatives of the same social stratum, this is not a

surprising result considering the fact that research has shown a positive correlation

between cultural capital and involvement in sports (Wilson, 2002). However, a more

precise measure of the type of sports being practised by clusters 2 and 3, regardless of

  44  

the frequency, might reveal further differences. Perhaps it is »prole« sports (sports

usually avoided by the higher classes) that cluster 3 does not practice? While both

cluster 2 and cluster 3 show a considerable interest in economy and science, cluster 1

shows less interest in both, however it does show a moderate interest in creative

activities and highbrow culture.

Clustering  Variables:  Film  Knowledge  and  Taste  

Table 9: A summative and comparative table of variables pertaining to film knowledge and taste

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Godfather I (high) moderate/1st

m.grade=2,48/2nd

(high) low/3rd

m.grade=2,2/3rd

Moderate/2nd

m.grade=2,55/1st

Pulp Fiction (low) moderate/1st

2,58 / 1st

0% (low) low/3rd

0 / 3rd

(high) low/2nd

2,53 / 2nd

Lord of the Rings (high) high / 1st

2,62 / 1st

(high)moderate/3rd

2,21 / 3rd

(high) high/2nd

2,45 / 2nd

Petelinji zajtrk (low) high / 3rd

1,83 / 2nd

(high) high / 1st

2,03 / 1st

(high) high / 2nd

1,81 / 3rd

Gremo mi po svoje (high) high/3rd

1,97 / 2nd

(high) high / 1st

1,98 / 1st

(high) high / 2nd

1,77 / 3rd

This set of variables measures both cultural capital and habitus since it pertains to

both the knowledge of, and taste in, movies. The first two movies are well-known

American productions, noteable for both their great popularity as well as quality. Lord

of the Rings is a big budget fantasy saga and one of the most popular and awarded

films of all time. The last two movies are the two most popular Slovenian

productions: the first one a romantic movie, the second one a comedy.

Cluster 2 shows both good knowledge, as well as an appreciation, of the two

classical movies and the award-winning fantasy saga, and a decent level of knowledge

  45  

and appreciation of the two popular Slovenian movies too. This could mean that this

cluster is quite omnivorous in its consumption and taste. Cluster 3, on the other hand,

shows a less omnivorous consumption and a tendency towards a more snobbish taste.

Cluster 1 shows both poor knowledge of film and a taste for the more middlebrow or

lowbrow genres.

Clustering  Variables:  Reading  Preferences  

Table 10: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' reading preferences

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Classical literature (low) low

3rd

(low) high

2nd

(low) high

1st

Detective fiction (high) moderate

1st

(low) moderate

3rd

(low) moderate

2nd

Science fiction Moderate

1st

(low) low

3rd

(low) moderate

2nd

Comic books (low) moderate

1st

(low) low

3rd

(low) low

2nd

Poetry (low) low

3rd

(low) low

2nd

(low) moderate

1st

Drama (low) low

3rd

(low) low

2nd

(high) low

1st

Other genres of

literature

(low) low

1st

(low) low

2nd

(low) low

3rd

The results of this table confirm the findings of the table above, however, this time it

is both cluster 2 and cluster 3 that show a highly distinct taste: cluster 2 for the more

popular genres of literature, whereas cluster 3, again, only for the more highbrow

genres. The latter cluster reads mostly classical literature, but also poetry and drama,

  46  

whereas cluster 2 enjoys the more middlebrow or lowbrow genres of literature. It is

worth noting that cluster 1, a representative of the lower social stratum, enjoys

reading classical literature. Although it does not read much else, this is still a strong

contribution to both its cultural capital and habitus. Could this unexpected result be a

sign of the cluster’s active and concerted effort to gain more (highbrow) cultural

capital?

Clustering  Variables:  Music  Preferences  

Table 11: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' music preferences

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Pop music (high) moderate

2nd

(high) high

1st

Moderate

3rd

Rock music Moderate

2nd

(low) moderate

3rd

High

1st

Jazz music (low) low

2nd

(low) low

3rd

(high) moderate

1st

Classical music Low

2nd

(low) low

3rd

(low) high

1st

Punk music Low

1st

(low) low

3rd

(low) low

2nd

Reaggae music Low

2nd

(low) low

3rd

Low

1st

Folk music (low) low

3rd

(low) moderate

1st

Low

2nd

Hiphop music (low) moderate

1st

(high) low

2nd

(high) low

3rd

Balkan music (low) low

2nd

Low

1st

(low) low 0%

3rd

EDM music (low) low

1st

(low) low

3rd

(low) low

2nd

  47  

Metal music (low) low

1st

(low) low 0%

3rd

(low) low

2nd

Other genres of

music

(high) low

1st

(low) low

3rd

Low

2nd

This table shows a great variety of taste for cluster 2, which confirms its omnivorous

tendency. Cluster 3 is, again, slightly more snobbish in its taste, enjoying both the

highbrow musical genres of classical music and jazz, but also rock and some pop

music. A notable result for this cluster is the complete absence of Balkan music, a

highly popular, yet equally trivial, musical genre in Slovenia. Cluster 1 shows a

higher appreciation of that very type of music, as well as of Slovenian folk music and

pop.

Clustering  Variables:  Family  Cultural  Capital  

Table 12: A summative and comparative table of how often the given topics are discussed at

home

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Discuss politics (low) high

2nd

(high) moderate

3rd

(low) high

1st

Discuss social

issues

(low) high

3rd

(low) high

2nd

(high) high

1st

Discuss art moderate

3rd

(high) moderate

2nd

(low) high

1st

Discuss science (low) high

1st

Moderate

3rd

(high) moderate

2nd

  48  

This table shows the level and scope of family cultural capital. Cluster 3, the smallest

of clusters, stands out across the board, but the result is more interesting in terms of

cluster 1. Considering the fact that this cluster seems to represents a lower social

stratum than the other two, especially regarding the lower educational level of

parents, the results in this table, which show that cluster 1 compares well with cluster

2, could perhaps mean that in cluster 1 there is an active effort on the side of the

family to increase the cultural capital of children, an active investment for the

acquisition of cultural capital. This result could possibly corroborate the interesting

finding from Table 10 (reading preferences) that shows this cluster’s interest in

classical literature.

Clustering  Variables:  Membership  in  Organizations  

Table 13: A summative and comparative table of the clusters' participation in the given types of

organizations

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Member of student

organization

(low) low

3rd

Low

2nd

(high) low

1st

Member of cultural

organization

(low) low

3rd

(high) low

2nd

(low) moderate

1st

Member of sports

organization

(high) moderate

1st

Moderate

2nd

Low

3rd

Firefighter (low) low

2nd

(low) low

1st

(low) low

3rd

Table 13 shows an important part of cultural capital, namely active inclusion in

various social groups, or social capital. The category of firefighters was included in

the investigation because being a firefighter is a highly popular pasttime activity in

Slovenia. The researcher theorized that it was, however, an activity preferred by the

  49  

lower social strata, and the findings of this table tentatively support that assumption: it

is cluster 1 that has the greatest share of such members. However, the cluster is also

characterized by a wide scope of memberships, which could again support the

assumption that this cluster exhibits a drive for an active acquisition of cultural

capital. Other results in this table also support the findings of other tables: cluster 2 is

mostly active in sports organizations, whereas cluster 3 is active in cultural

organizations and student organizations, but is rather uninterested in sports. If both

clusters are considered together, this again shows an omnivorous disposition.

Evaluative  Variables:  Trait  Emotional  Intelligence  

Table 14: A summative and comparative table of trait emotional intelligence variables

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Total trait EI score Mean = 4,81

3rd

Mean = 4,88

2nd

Mean = 5,00

1st

Well-being factor

score

5,20

2nd

5,20

2nd

5,45

1st

Self-control factor

score

4,53

2nd

4,45

3rd

4,61

1st

Emotionality factor

score

4,85

3rd

5,07

1st

4,92

2nd

Sociability factor

score

4,77

3rd

4,80

2nd

5,07

1st

Table 14 shows that cluster 3 clearly scores the highest across the board on both the

overall trait emotional intelligence and its factors, except for the factor of

emotionality, where cluster 1 wins the day. Due to the somewhat snobbish disposition

of cluster 3, and the more science-oriented and geeky nature of cluster 2, both

representatives of the higher social stratum, it is perhaps not surprising that the more

  50  

blue-collar and yet high-achieving cluster 1 would prevail in this factor, which is a

reflection of the ability of the respondents to be “in touch with their own and other

people’s feelings” (Petrides, Psychometric Properties of the Trait Emotional

Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue), 2009, p. 10). Cluster 1 is in fact the second-

highest scoring cluster, with cluster 2 trailing behind in third place. The implications

of these results are discussed below in the discussion section.

Evaluative  Variables:  Career  Maturity  

Table 15: A summative and comparative table of career maturity variables

VARIABLE CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 3

Total career

maturity score

11,55

3rd

12,28

2nd

12,30

1st

Concern factor

score

4,02

3rd

4,70

2nd

4,82

1st

Curiosity factor

score

3,92

1st

3,78

3rd

3,79

2nd

Confidence factor

score

3,61

3rd

3,80

1st

3,69

2nd

Consultation factor

score

2,11

2nd

2,28

1st

2,11

2nd

The table for career maturity scores paints a similar picture to the table on emotional

intelligence: it is cluster 3 that scores the highest, but cluster 1 is close behind. The

difference in the total maturity score is insubstantial, while the margin in the

confidence factor score is meaningful. Cluster 2 is trailing behind heavily; the

differences in most scores are noticeable.

  51  

SUMMATIVE  CHARACTERIZATION  OF  CLUSTERS    

Once the full picture of the clusters' cultural capital has been laid bare, the clusters

can appear in the flesh: the comparison of their multifarious features, interests and

activities crystallizes into an understanding of their own specific composition.

The summative characterization begins with the two clusters that are

hypothesized to form the higher social stratum, namely The Sporty Geeks (cluster 2)

and The Highbrow Elite (cluster 3). They are regarded as two parts of the same

whole. The characterization is then complemented with a comparative description of

The Dedicated Disadvantaged (cluster 1), which is hypothesized to represent the

lower social stratum. The figure below aims to represent their position in a vertical

and horizontal social stratification.

  52  

CLUSTER 2 = THE SPORTY GEEKS

LIKE: science, sports, movies, comic

books

DISLIKE: highbrow literature and music

REMARKABLE: low trait EI and low

career maturity, low sociability and

emotionality

IN A NUTSHELL: These are the geeks

of the sample who love science and will

go on to study mostly engineering and

technology or the natural sciences. Their

cultural capital is low, but their taste is

omnivorous, which is in line with their

remarkable curiosity. They have poor

networking skills and don't relate well to

other people, but show a remarkable

interest in sports. They are therefore

called The Sporty Geeks.

CLUSTER 3 = THE HIGHBROW ELITE

LIKE: arts and culture, highbrow genres

DISLIKE: sports and lowbrow culture,

such as hiphop and Balkan music

REMARKABLE: High trait emotional

intelligence and high career maturity,

good scope of knowledge but slightly

snobbish taste

IN A NUTSHELL: This is a group of

students that are marked by high cultural

and educational capital of both

themselves and their parents. They

appreciate highbrow culture and are

focused on creative activities, as well as

on schoolwork, as evidenced by their

high grades. They dislike sports and

lowbrow culture. Because of their high

cultural and educational capital, and

equally high scores in trait emotional

intelligence and career maturity across

the board, as well as their refined taste,

this group is named The Highbrow Elite.

CLUSTER 1 = THE DEDICATED DISADVANTAGED

LIKE: lowbrow and middlebrow culture

DISLIKE: science and highbrow culture

REMARKABLE: high emotionality and low self-control, high career maturity and

confidence, reading of classical novels and good family communication

IN A NUTSHELL: This is a group of disadvantaged students who are dedicated to

  53  

improving their social standing, and are in fact successful at school. They put in a

concerted effort to improve their cultural and social capital, and are supported by their

parents, but probably have a hard time making friends with either of the two groups

from the higher social stratum: they are not interested enough in either science or

sports to befriend The Sporty Geeks, and they are far too lowbrow for the snobbish

and refined Highbrow Elite. They do, however, have the ability to form meaningful

friendships, and they like to join groups. Their social capital, their dedication and

focus in school, as well as their ability to relate to other people, make up for what they

lack in cultural capital, as evidenced by their competitive trait emotional intelligence

and career maturity scores. They are therefore called The Dedicated Disadvantaged.

Figure 3: The relational space of the three clusters in a horizontal and vertical sociocultural

stratification

The  Sporty  Geeks  

The Sporty Geeks (cluster 2) are mainly interested in science and sports. They don't

care much for art or languages, those highbrow interests they prefer to leave to their

partners-in-crime in cluster 3, The Highbrow Elite. They might have an overall

narrow scope of interests and activities, but they do know their movies. They show a

good knowledge of film, and an appreciation of a variety of genres, from classical to

more middlebrow. They are the omnivores of this higher social stratum, caring little

for elitist prejudice. Nowhere is this reflected more than in their choice of literature.

They care not for the classical novels, but do love to unwind with a good detective

story, imaginative science fiction, or a flashy comic book. In music they are as hungry

for variety as in literature. They like anything from pop to hiphop and rock, but never

invite them to a concert of classical music or jazz, as you will not make any friends.

With their own friends and family members they mostly debate politics and science,

but never art. Art is not a subject for intellectual discussion to them: it is something to

be enjoyed, an instrument for relaxation, away from the rectangular world of science.

  54  

Another place to unwind is the local gym or a sports club: most of them are members

of some type of sports organization, and they do sports at least a few times a week.

Perhaps this is partly due to their gender structure: they are the only balanced group

with an almost equal share of males and females. They don't seem to care as much for

grades as their peers, but perhaps the highschool grading system does not suit their

very curious minds: they score the highest on this factor, and most of them are going

to study engineering and technology or natural sciences, where it is logic and

curiosity that count, not tests and grades. They are focused on solving problems, not

people, which is reflected in their low emotionality and sociability scores, as well as

the lowest overall trait emotional intelligence. But they are not unhappy: their

wellbeing is the same as that of the Dedicated Disadvantaged, while their parents'

educational level is comparable to their Highbrow Elite peers with whom they form

the upper social stratum in this inverted triangle.

The  Highbrow  Elite  

The Highbrow Elite (cluster 3) are the cultural and social elite: they love anything that

even distinctly resembles the classical, the antique, and the artistic. They love reading

and writing, they love playing music and watching movies, but in their taste show a

tendency to be slightly snobbish: they dislike the lowbrow genres, such as Balkan

music or comic books. Literature of their choice would much sooner be classical

novels, poetry and drama, perhaps while playing some Chopin or listening to some

classy jazz. Sports does not really cross their minds, they have no time for such trivial

pursuits. And although they might watch a variety of movies, they will later sneer at

anything that is popular and lacking in artistic quality. Their fine stock must be down

to their family background too: their parents are the most highly educated, and they

regularly engage in discussions with them on a variety of topics, from politics, social

issues, and art, of course. Their high cultural capital is buoyed up by their social

capital, as seen from the notable shares of members of student and cultural

organizations. Perhaps their academic success has something to do with the fact that

they are a heavily female dominated group, and by the absence of students from the

technical program. Most of them will go on to study Social sciences and Humanities

  55  

where their highbrow interests and their knowledge of cultural practices should serve

them well. Their well-educated parents will surely want them to go far in their

educational pursuits, and that should not be an issue of great concern since they also

have the largest share of gifted students. Their emotional capacity, as well as high

career maturity, should help them reach their educational and professional goals.

The  Dedicated  Disadvantaged  

The Dedicated Disadvantaged (cluster 1) are the hardworking blue-collar guys.

Refinement and finesse are not their strong suit, but they make up for what they lack

with active effort and commitment. Their film knowledge and taste are revealing of

their cultural capital and habitus: they prefer the lowbrow and middlebrow genres that

aim to please mass audiences. They will, however, prefer to pick up a classical novel

rather than a comic book, which might be a sign of a personal and active effort to

make up for what they lack in terms of their overall cultural knowledge and somewhat

trivial taste. Such an effort might also come from their family with whom they tend to

discuss a variety of topics, from politics and social issues to art, despite their parents'

distinctly lower educational level and socioeconomic status. The variety of clubs and

organizations that they join might be another sign of that concerted dedication. This

commitment is reflected in their grades, which are almost as good as those of the

Highbrow Elite, who possess distinctly higher levels of both cultural and economic

capital. Namely, half of the Dedicated Disadvantaged receive the social scholarship

for disadvantaged students. Perhaps this awareness of a precarious social situation

contributes to their high career maturity scores, as well as their rational choice of

study: few of them aim to follow in the career steps of their parents, as most of them

aim to study Social or Medical and Health sciences which might help them in their

quest for social mobility. On this journey they will be supported by their high

emotionality, confidence and a relational or communicative style of solving career-

related issues, as reflected by their high consultation score.

  56  

DISCUSSION  OF  THE  FINDINGS    

Now that the nature of the clusters has been sketched out, the clusters can be placed

within the social space, comparable to a physical space (Bourdieu, Social Space and

Symbolic Power, 1989, p. 16), as visualized by the revisited figure from the chapter

on the operationalization of cultural capital.

CULTURAL REPRODUCTION

(ACTIVE & PASSIVE)

The Highbrow Elite

(cluster 3)

CULTURAL HIERARCHY

(HIGHBROW TASTE)

The Highbrow Elite

(cluster 3)

CULTURAL MOBILITY

(ACTIVE)

The Dedicated Disadvantaged

(cluster 1)

OMNIVOROUS THESIS

(HIGH & LOWBROW TASTE)

The Sporty Geeks

(cluster 2)

+

The Highbrow Elite

(cluster 3)

Figure 4: The location of clusters within the social space

The figure shows the placement of the clusters within the two operationalized

oppositions of the study. The Highbrow Elite is the only cluster that fits the theory of

either cultural reproduction or cultural hierarchy. The cultural mobility theory, on the

other hand, is supported by the academic success of the Dedicated Disadvantaged

(cluster 1) and their active acquisition of cultural capital. The omnivorous thesis finds

  57  

equal support in the Sporty Geeks (cluster 2) and the Highbrow Elite (cluster 3) when

both are seen together as representatives of the higher social stratum. Together they

exhibit a taste for both the highbrow and lowbrow culture, but while the Sporty Geeks

benefit mostly from passive or inherited cultural capital, the Highbrow Elite seem to

possess both a rich cultural capital inheritance and an active drive to invest and

increase it.

In sum, the results of this study give tentative support to the both the cultural

mobility thesis (DiMaggio, 1982) and the omnivore thesis (Peterson & Kern, 1996).

This has to be understood in the specific setting of the present case study. The results

suggest that the young gymnasium students in Celje, Slovenia who come from a

lower socioeconomic background and show an active drive to acquire cultural capital

reap greater benefits from their gains than their peers from a higher socioeconomic

background who are more passive in their attitude towards cultural capital. In other

words, acquired cultural capital pays off better than the inherited cultural capital.

The results also hint that those students who are lucky enough to inherit a

higher amount of cultural capital through their families, and then add to that inherited

capital with their own active acquisition, are the most academically succesful, and

characterized by the highest degree of both career maturity and emotional capacity.

However, the students from the higher social stratum are not characterized by a sense

of “cultural exclusiveness”.

The findings therefore lean more towards those of DiMaggio than those of

Bourdieu, which is perhaps unsurprising considering the history and development of

Slovenian society. Research has found similar results in other postsocialist countries,

such as Hungary, for example, where “children with the least educated parents could

benefit the most from the family's cultural investments” (Blaskó, 2003).

Research  Questions  Revisited  

The research questions and hypotheses that support them can now be revisited and

elaborated upon. The oppositional investigation of the study allows for a more

detailed understanding of the proposed relationships. While hypothesis 1 assumed that

cultural capital and career maturity will be positively correlated, the results of the

  58  

study show that it is in fact the active acquisition of cultural capital that seems to

affect career maturity. The same applies to hypothesis 2, which assumed that cultural

capital and trait EI will be positively correlated. The results of the study show that it is

again the active acquisition of cultural capital that seems to boost trait emotional

intelligence.

Both of the hypotheses are supported by the two-step cluster analysis that

produced two clusters from the higher socioeconomic stratum (The Sporty Geeks and

The Highbrow Elite), and a cluster from the lower socioeconomic stratum (The

Dedicated Disadvantaged), although the clustering variables were strictly those

pertaining to cultural capital. The Sporty Geeks and The Highbrow Elite differ greatly

in the way they acquire cultural capital, as well as in their trait emotional intelligence

and career maturity scores. While The Sporty Geeks are a very passive beneficiary of

cultural capital, and exhibit a more omnivorous taste, The Highbrow Elite are

snobbish in their taste. This is perhaps the result of having an active, driven attitude

towards their cultural capital, of which they already have a large inheritance. The

Highbrow Elite show high career maturity and trait emotional intelligence, while The

Sporty Geeks shows markedly lower levels of both. The Dedicated Disadvantaged,

however, are very close to the leading group, The Highbrow Elite, in both career

maturity and trait emotional intelligence. Since The Dedicated Disadvantaged are the

representatives of a lower social stratum and have very little inherited cultural capital,

but show an active effort to gain more of it (through their reading of classical

literature, active investments in social capital, as well as active support at home, as

evidenced by the levels and scope of family communication), the logical conclusion

would seem to be that it is the active acquisition, the drive to gain more cultural

capital, that makes the difference.

One could illustrate the findings with a metaphor, a story: say that The Sporty

Geeks were the control group, while The Dedicated Disadvantaged were the

experimental group. The Sporty Geeks are a group that suffers from ennui: they are

the representatives of a part of the social stratum that has inherited a certain amount of

cultural capital, but show little drive to gain more. Hence they have lower grades in

school, lower career maturity, as well as low emotional capacity. They live in their

own little bubble, so to speak. The Dedicated Disadvantaged as the experimental

group were “injected” with an active drive for mobility, which is shown by their

active acquisition of cultural capital. Hence they have better grades at school, as well

  59  

as higher career maturity and emotional capacity despite their markedly more

impoverished background, both economically and culturally. Similarly high levels of

career maturity and emotional capacity in the third group, The Highbrow Elite, who

show an active drive to acquire more cultural capital, corroborate this shift. The

members of this cluster are, however, lucky enough to have also passively inherited

larger amounts of cultural capital, probably a consequence of their higher

socioeconomic status and the educational level of their parents. This active

investment of their passive cultural capital inheritance results in the highest career

maturity and emotional capacity of all three groups.

THE  NEXUS  OF  CULTURAL  CAPITAL,  CAREER  MATURITY  AND  TRAIT  

EMOTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE  

 

Now that the research hypotheses have been refined and solved, the research

questions can be answered. The study aimed to understand the nexus of cultural

capital, career maturity and trait emotional intelligence in order to see whether the

concept of cultural capital could be expanded with psychological tools, and whether it

would be beneficial to both sociology and psychology to extend their limits into each

other’s realms. This overall aim was pursued through the following research

questions:

1. What is the nature of the relationship between the three concepts of career

maturity, cultural capital and trait emotional intelligence?

2. What is the structure of career maturity, cultural capital and trait emotional

intelligence in students from families with higher cultural and academic

capital as opposed to students from families with lower cultural and academic

capital?

The nature of the relationship between the three examined concepts is one of positive

correlation when the difference between the active and passive acquisition of cultural

capital has been accounted for. Passively inherited cultural capital does not guarantee

high career maturity or trait emotional intelligence. Only an active acquisition of

  60  

cultural capital will result in higher career maturity and trait emotional intelligence.

However, the combination of both a passive inheritence and an active acquisition of

cultural capital will give the greatest gain and the best results.

The active acquisition of cultural capital is also the defining difference in the

structure of cultural capital when students from different socioeconomic backgrounds

are compared. Whereas the higher social stratum is divided into two groups, one that

lives off the inheritance of the family cultural capital, so to speak, and the other that

invests that inheritance and actively pursues more cultural capital gains, the lower

social stratum that exhibits a drive for social mobility is characterized by a drive for

the acquisition of cultural capital too. Their social mobility is supported by their

attempts to not only gain cultural capital, but also to expand their otherwise low- and

middlebrow habitus into a more highbrow sphere. Should they succeed their habitus

will most likely be marked by an omnivorous taste, similar to today's higher social

stratum, as the newer research suggests (Peterson & Kern, 1996).

 

 

CONCLUDING  REMARKS  

The study posited a research problem that aimed to examine the nexus of cultural

capital, career maturity and trait emotional intelligence, in order to investigate

whether it would be possible and meaningful to expand Bourdieu's popular

sociological concept with a psychological dimension. The researcher assumed that

such an expansion could be beneficial to both sociological and psychological research

because it seems that there are certain dimensions of cultural capital that are

unavailable to a purely sociological investigation (Gripsrud, Hovden, & Moe, 2011).

The research problem was based on two contending oppositions relating to both

cultural capital and its embedded manifestation, the habitus. The first opposition was

the cultural reproduction – cultural mobility opposition, the second one the cultural

hierachy – omnivorous thesis opposition.

The investigation of the concepts took place at 2 Slovenian gymnasium

schools. The study was essentially a case study but due to the composition of the

programs at both schools, the methodology employed, and the relevance of its

  61  

findings to the overall concepts investigated, it also had a cross-sectional design based

on the typical or representative case. The methodology followed the post-positivist

paradigm, and included standardized surveys with excellent psychometric properties

that were later analyzed with well-established statistical procedures, namely two-step

cluster analysis and crosstabulations. The reliability analysis of the study's measures

proved they were indeed highly reliable, and the final results of the study give reason

to believe that the design and the research questions of the study were valid as well.

Strict ethical guidelines were followed, and the data was both administered

and analyzed by the researcher using the standard statistical tool SPSS, as well as

software specifically developed by the researcher to eliminate the possibility of error

in processing the data.

The results confirm the researcher's hypotheses and validate the assumption

that cultural capital could perhaps be expanded with two psychological concepts,

namely trait emotional intelligence and career maturity. There are positive

correlations between all three concepts once the division between an active

acquisition and a passive inheritance of cultural capital has been accounted for. The

results therefore lend tentative support to the cultural mobility theory and the

omnivorous thesis.

However, these results are not to be generalized to the wider Slovenian

population. Although the case study uses a representative case, the sample is fairly

homogeneous, and too small. The translations of the measures used could, despite

their good reliability, be further improved. The cultural capital survey in particular

could be further refined.

On the other hand, the study does suggest new ways to both view and

investigate cultural capital in the future, and builds a bridge, rickety as it may be,

between a psychological and a sociological examination of Bourdieu's popular

concept. The attempt to cross that bridge demanded that the concept of cultural capital

be taken from the outside (sociology) to the inside (psychology), and was therefore

turned inside out, as the phrase goes. The hope of all research is, ultimately, to

understand and know its concepts inside out, therefore the generous wordplay in the

title seemed to be more than just that.

And indeed, this new understanding of cultural capital could perhaps offer

new venues for the improvement of the educational experience of students from a

lower socioeconomic background who suffer from a lack of cultural capital but aim to

  62  

gain more, as well as students from a higher socioeconomic background who do not

actively aim to invest the cultural capital they had passively inherited. Research

shows that trait emotional intelligence is positively correlated with academic success,

leadership ability, creativity, etc., as well as negatively correlated with deviant

behaviour and truancy, while higher career maturity might lead to higher school

completion and a reduced number of stragglers, although research in this latter area is

still lacking. However, the results of the present study might give educational

professionals reason to employ specific trait emotional intelligence programs in order

to increase an active acquisition of cultural capital, and vice-versa, or educational

researchers enough of an incentive to further investigate new ways to increase social

mobility and graduate employability, and to decrease the ennui of the modern youth.

  63  

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Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International

Journal of Medical Education , 2, 53-55.

The British Psychological Society. (2013). Test Review. The British Psychological

Society.

Wildhagen, T. (2009). Why Does Cultural Capital Matter for High School

Performance? An Empirical Assessment of Teacher-selection and Self-

selection Mechanisms as Explanations of the Cultural Capital Effect. The

Sociological Quarterly , 50, 173-200.

Wilson, T. C. (2002). The Paradox of Social Class and Sports Involvement: The Roles

of Cultural and Economic Capital. International Review for the Sociology of

Sport , 37 (1), 5-16.

Zavadlav, L. (2010). Spreminjanje razrednosti postsocialističnih družb. Ljubljana.  

 

  69  

APPENDIX  

Appendix  1:  Career  Maturity  Inventory  (English  original)  

Career Maturity Inventory — Form C

Name __________________________

Age ______

Circle one: Male or Female

DIRECTIONS

There are 24 statements about choosing the kind of job or work that you will probably

do when you finish school. Read each statement. If you agree or mostly agree with it,

then circle agree next to it. If you disagree or mostly disagree with it, then circle

disagree next to it.

1. There is no point in deciding on a job when the future is so uncertain.

Agree Disagree

2. I know very little about the requirements of jobs.

Agree Disagree

3. I have so many interests that it is hard to choose just one occupation.

Agree Disagree

4. Choosing a job is something that you do on your own.

Agree Disagree

5. I can’t seem to become very concerned about my future occupation.

Agree Disagree

6. I don’t know how to go about getting into the kind of work I want to do.

Agree Disagree

7. Everyone seems to tell me something different; as a result I don’t know what kind

of work to choose.

  70  

Agree Disagree

8. If you have doubts about what you want to do, ask your parents or friends for

advice.

Agree Disagree

9. I seldom think about the job that I want to enter.

Agree Disagree

10. I am having difficulty in preparing my self for the work that I want to do.

Agree Disagree

11. I keep changing my occupational choice.

Agree Disagree

12. When it comes to choosing a career, I will ask other people to help me.

Agree Disagree

13. I’m not going to worry about choosing an occupation until I am out of school.

Agree Disagree

14. I don’t know what courses I should take in school.

Agree Disagree

15. I often daydream about what I want to be, but I really have not chosen an

occupation yet.

Agree Disagree

16. I will choose my career without paying attention to the feelings of other people.

Agree Disagree

17. As far as choosing an occupation is concerned, something will come along sooner

or later.

Agree Disagree

18. I don’t know whether my occupational plans are realistic.

Agree Disagree

19. There are so many things to consider in choosing an occupation, it is hard to make

a decision.

Agree Disagree

20. It is important to consult close friends and get their ideas before making an

occupational choice.

Agree Disagree

21. I really can’t find any work that has much appeal to me.

Agree Disagree

  71  

22. I keep wondering how I can reconcile the kind of person I am with the kind of

person I want to be in my occupation.

Agree Disagree

23. I can’t understand how some people can be so certain about what they want to do.

Agree Disagree

24. In making career choices, one should pay attention to the thoughts and feelings of

the family members.

Agree Disagree

  72  

Appendix  2:  Career  Maturity  Inventory  (Slovenian  translation)  

Prebrali boste 24 izjav o procesu vašega kariernega odločanja. Preberite vsako izjavo.

Če se z njo strinjate ali povečini strinjate, obkljukajte Strinjam se. Če se z njo ne

strinjate ali povečini ne strinjate, obkljukajte Ne strinjam se.

1. Nesmiselno si je izbrati poklic, ker je prihodnost tako negotova.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

2. Slabo poznam zahteve različnih poklicev.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

3. Zanima me toliko stvari, da mi je težko izbrati zgolj en poklic.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

4. Odločitev o svojem poklicu mora vsak posameznik sprejeti čisto sam.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

5. Videti je, da se ne zmorem ogreti za vprašanje, kateri poklic bom opravljal v

življenju.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

6. Ne vem, kako in kje naj začnem, da bi lahko nekoč opravljal delo, ki si ga želim

opravljati.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

7. Vsi mi svetujejo različne stvari, zato ne vem, kateri poklic si naj izberem.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

8. Če dvomiš o tem, kaj bi v življenju rad počel, vprašaj svoje starše ali prijatelje.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

  73  

9. Zelo redko razmišljam o tem, kateri poklic bi rad opravljal.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

10. Priprava na poklic, ki bi ga rad opravljal, mi povzroča težave.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

11. Neprestano spreminjam svojo poklicno odločitev.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

12. Pri izbiri poklicne poti bom prosil druge ljudi za pomoč.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

13. Svoj poklic bom izbral šele, ko končam svojo izobrazbeno pot.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

14. Ne vem točno, kaj bi res rad študiral.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

15. Pogosto sanjarim o tem, kaj bi rad postal, vendar si še nisem izbral poklica.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

16. Svoj poklic bom izbral ne glede na mnenje drugih ljudi.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

17. Pri izbiri svojega poklica bom dal času čas, prava odločitev se bo slej kot prej

pojavila.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

18. Ne vem, ali so moji poklicni načrti realistični.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

19. Pri izbiri poklica je potrebno upoštevati veliko različnih stvari, zato je težko

sprejeti odločitev.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

  74  

20. Važno je, da se pred izbiro poklica posvetujemo z bližnjimi prijatelji.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

21. Nikakor ne najdem poklica, ki bi me res pritegnil.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

22. Sprašujem se, ali lahko nekdo z mojo osebnostjo opravlja poklic, ki si ga želim

opravljati.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

23. Ne razumem, kako so lahko nekateri tako prepričani glede svojega poklica.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

24. Pri sprejemanju poklicnih odločitev je pomembno, da upoštevamo mnenja

družinskih članov.

Strinjam se Ne strinjam se

  75  

Appendix  3:  TEIQ-­‐ue  Short  Form  (English  Original)    

 

TEIQue-SF Instructions: Please answer each statement below by putting a circle around the number that best

reflects your degree of agreement or disagreement with that statement. Do not think too long about the

exact meaning of the statements. Work quickly and try to answer as accurately as possible. There are

no right or wrong answers. There are seven possible responses to each statement ranging from

‘Completely Disagree’ (number 1) to ‘Completely Agree’ (number 7).

1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . 7

Completely Completely

Disagree Agree

 

1. Expressing my emotions with words is not a problem for me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. I often find it difficult to see things from another person’s

viewpoint.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. On the whole, I’m a highly motivated person. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. I usually find it difficult to regulate my emotions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. I generally don’t find life enjoyable. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. I can deal effectively with people. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. I tend to change my mind frequently. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. Many times, I can’t figure out what emotion I'm feeling. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. I often find it difficult to stand up for my rights. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. I’m usually able to influence the way other people feel. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

12. On the whole, I have a gloomy perspective on most things. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

13. Those close to me often complain that I don’t treat them right. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14. I often find it difficult to adjust my life according to the

circumstances.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

  76  

15. On the whole, I’m able to deal with stress. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

16. I often find it difficult to show my affection to those close to

me.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

17. I’m normally able to “get into someone’s shoes” and

experience their emotions.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

18. I normally find it difficult to keep myself motivated. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

19. I’m usually able to find ways to control my emotions when I

want to.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

20. On the whole, I’m pleased with my life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

21. I would describe myself as a good negotiator. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

22. I tend to get involved in things I later wish I could get out of. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

23. I often pause and think about my feelings. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

24. I believe I’m full of personal strengths. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

25. I tend to “back down” even if I know I’m right. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

26. I don’t seem to have any power at all over other people’s

feelings.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

27. I generally believe that things will work out fine in my life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

28. I find it difficult to bond well even with those close to me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

29. Generally, I’m able to adapt to new environments. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

30. Others admire me for being relaxed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 

  77  

 

Appendix  4:  TEIQ-­‐ue  Short  Form  (Slovenian  Translation)      

TEIQue-SF Navodila: Prosimo, da na vsako izjavo odgovorite tako, da obkrožite številko, ki najbolje odraža vašo stopnjo strinjanja ali nestrinjanja z izjavo. O pomenu izjav ne razmišljajte pretirano. Odgovarjajte hitro in tekoče, poskušajte biti natančni. Pri reševanju se ne morete zmotiti, saj ni ne pravilnih ne napačnih odgovorov. Lestvica ima sedem stopenj, od »Se sploh ne strinjam« (številka 1) do »Se povsem strinjam« (številka 7). (Zaradi prostora in preprostosti zapisa je privzet moški spol.)

1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . 7 Se SPLOH NE Se POVSEM strinjam strinjam

 1. Svoja čustva lahko brez težav izrazim z besedami. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2. Pogosto težko vidim stvari skozi oči nekoga drugega. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3. Načeloma sem zelo motivirana oseba. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4. Ponavadi težko nadziram svoja čustva. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5. Na splošno se mi življenje ne zdi zelo prijetno. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6. Z ljudmi znam dobro in uspešno komunicirati. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7. Pogosto si premislim glede stvari. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Velikokrat mi ne uspe ugotoviti, kaj točno čutim. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9. Mislim, da imam veliko dobrih lastnosti. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10. Pogosto se težko postavim zase. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11. Ponavadi lahko vplivam na mnenja in čustva drugih ljudi. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12. Na splošno sem precej pesimističen. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13. Moji bližnji se pogosto pritožujejo, da z njimi ne ravnam dobro.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14. Pogosto se težko prilagodim okoliščinam. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 15. Načeloma se uspešno spopadem s stresom. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 16. Pogosto težko izrazim svojo naklonjenost do svojih bližnjih. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 17. Ponavadi se znam vživeti v druge in v njihova čustva. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 18. Običajno težko ostanem motiviran. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 19. Ponavadi mi uspe obvladati svoja čustva, če to hočem. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 20. Na splošno sem zadovoljen s svojim življenjem. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 21. Menim, da sem dober pogajalec. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 22. Pogosto se zapletem v stvari, iz katerih bi se pozneje rad izvlekel.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

23. Pogosto si vzamem čas za razmislek o tem, kaj čutim. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 24. Menim, da imam številne močne in pozitivne značajske poteze.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

25. Običajno se “vdam”, četudi vem, da imam prav. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

  78  

26. Videti je, da nimam prav nobenega vpliva na čustva drugih ljudi.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

27. Na splošno verjamem, da se bo vse v mojem življenju dobro uredilo.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

28. Celo s svojimi bližnjimi težko navežem tesne stike. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 29. Načeloma se znam prilagoditi novemu okolju. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 30. Drugi me občudujejo, ker sem tako sproščen. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

  79  

Appendix  5:  Cultural  Capital  Survey  (English)  

Cultural Capital Inside Out

A Study of the Nexus of Cultural Capital, Career Maturity and Trait EI

The present study investigates the nexus of cultural capital, career maturity, and trait emotional intelligence in relation to the career choices of high school students in Celje, Slovenia. It contains 3 short surveys which aim to measure all three factors. The Career Maturity Survey and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Survey have excellent psychometric properties and have been proven to be statistically valid and reliable. The study will help us understand the current state of social mobility in Slovenian society, as well as provide insight into how we could make sure that the students make good career choices and unleash their inner potential. All the information you provide is completely anonymous and confidential. By answering the surveys you agree to participate in the research. You may at any point decide to retract your information by emailing the researcher. If you would like to receive feedback on your scores, you may sign this sheet with a random code, and later email the researcher asking for feedback. We thank you for your time and participation. RANDOM CODE (voluntary): __________________________ The research is funded by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture and is part of the researcher's final thesis for his Master's Degree at Stockholm University. M. A. student: Aljaž Kovač Email: aljazkovac.kovacaljaz@gmail.com Supervisor: dr. Carina Carlhed

  80  

Gender: male female Year of birth:

School:

Cohort and program:

A1 What was (or you expect it to be) your overall end-of-the-year grade in years 3 and 4?

3rd year 2 3 4 5

4th year 2 3 4 5

A2 Which subjects did you choose as preparatory »matura« subjects in years 3 and 4, and what end-of-the-

year grades did you get (or you expect to get) for these subjects at the end of both years?

Subject Grade in year 3 Grade in year 4

2

3

4

5

2

3

4

5

2

3

4

5

2

3

4

5

A3 If you intend to continue into tertiary education after high school, which programs have you applied to as

your 1st and 2nd choice?

Program University Town

1st choice

2nd choice

A4 Do you have a scholarship?

Yes, please state which one: __________________________________________

No

A5 Please mark the highest educational level of your parents or caretakers.

Mother Father Level

II. Elementary school

III. in IV. Lower or middle vocational school (2 and 3 years)

V. Gymnasium, vocational high school, technical high school or some other vocational school

A First a few questions about you and your family background

  81  

VI/1. In VI/2. College

VII. Undergraduate program at a university

VIII/1. M. A. university degree

VIII/2. Doctorate or PhD

A6 Please state the educational and employment status of your parents or caretakers.

Parent or caretaker School or educational focus

(i.e. electrical engineering; medical

school; teacher college, etc.)

Current employment

(i.e. engineer at a construction company;

self-employed software developer; high

school teacher; etc.)

MOTHER

FATHER

B1 How often do you focus on the following topics in the various media outlets (TV, newspapers, the

Internet, etc.)?

Never or

almost never

A few times a month A few times a week Every day

Politics (reports, articles, broadcasts, etc.)

Local and international news

Arts & Culture (movies, music, dance, literature,

etc.)

Business & Economy

Science & Technology

Sports

B2 How often did you partake in the following activities in the last year?

Never A few times A few times every

month

At least once a week or

more

I listened to music or read fiction literature

I went to a museum, a gallery, to the theatre or the

opera, etc.

B A few questions about your interests and activities

  82  

I was artistically engaged (I wrote, played music,

painted, etc.)

I participated in an organized sports activity

(training at a sports club, competition, etc.)

I was engaged in a political or social activity in

the school or outside of it

I studied a foreign language outside the school

Other: ________________

B3 Did you partake in any of the above activities with at least one of your parents or caretakers?

Yes, often Yes, but rarely No

B4 How would you rate the following movies?

Bad Good Great I don't know the movie

Godfather I

Pulp Fiction

Matrix I

Lord of the Rings I

Petelinji zajtrk

Gremo mi po svoje

B5 Please, mark your favorite literary genres.

classical novels fantasy literature detective novels science fiction

comic books poetry drama other: ___________________

B6 Please, mark your favorite music genres.

pop rock jazz classical music punk reagge

Slovenian country music hip-hop other: ________________

B7 How often did you borrow books at the library in the past year (school library and any other)?

never a few times a year almost every month a few times a month every week

B8 How often did you discuss any of the following topics with your family members in the past year:

Never A few times A few times every

month

Once a week or

more

Politics and/or economy & finance

Social issues

  83  

Literature, music and art

Science and technology

B9 Were you a member of an organization or association during your high school years?

Student union Political party Culture organization Sports club Other: ___________

 

  84  

Appendix  6:  Cultural  Capital  Survey  (Slovenian)  

Študija o vplivu kulturnega kapitala, karierne zrelosti in osebnostne emocionalne intelligence na izbiro študija

Pričujoča študija raziskuje preplet faktorjev kulturnega kapitala, karierne zrelosti in osebnostne emocionalne intelligence ter njihov vpliv na izbiro študija dijakov celjskih gimnazij. Vsebuje 3 kratke vprašalnike, s katerimi bomo izmerili vse tri faktorje. Vsi vprašalniki so sestavljeni po psihometričnih zakonitostih in so se izkazali za statistično zelo zanesljive. Študija nam bo pomagala razumeti, kakšni so procesi socialne mobilnosti v slovenski družbi, in kako bi lahko dijakom omogočili, da sprejmejo kar najboljše odločitve in tako v celoti razvijejo svoj notranji potencial. Vaše sodelovanje je povsem anonimno, vsi podatki so zaupni. Če bi se kadarkoli premislili glede sodelovanja, lahko kontaktirate raziskovalca in svoje podatke izključite iz študije. Če bi radi prejeli rezultate svojih testov, se podpišite z izmišljeno šifro in kontaktirajte raziskovalca. Za vaše odgovore se vam lepo zahvaljujemo. ŠIFRA (poljubno): __________________________ Raziskavo financira Ministrstvo za kulturo in je del magistrske naloge na univerzi v Stockholmu. Študent: Aljaž Kovač Email: aljazkovac.kovacaljaz@gmail.com Mentorica: dr. Carina Carlhed

  85  

Spol: moški ženski Letnica rojstva:

Gimnazija:

Razred in program:

A1 Kakšen je bil (oziroma predvidevate, da bo) vaš splošni učni uspeh v 3. in v 4. letniku?

3. letnik zadosten dober prav dober odličen

4. letnik zadosten dober prav dober odličen

A2 Katere predmete ste izbrali za pripravo na maturo v 3. in 4. letniku gimnazije in kakšne ocene ste dobili

(oziroma, predvidevate, da boste dobili) pri teh predmetih ob koncu 3. in 4. letnika?

predmet ocena znanja v 3. letniku ocena znanja v 4. letniku

zadostno (2)

dobro (3)

prav dobro (4)

odlično (5)

zadostno (2)

dobro (3)

prav dobro (4)

odlično (5)

zadostno (2)

dobro (3)

prav dobro (4)

odlično (5)

zadostno (2)

dobro (3)

prav dobro (4)

odlično (5)

A3 Če se boste po gimnaziji vpisali na študij, kateri program je vaša 1. izbira in kateri 2. izbira?

Program fakulteta kraj

1. izbira

2. izbira

A4 Ali prejemate kakšno štipendijo?

Da, prosim, navedite, katero: __________________________________________

Ne

A5 Prosim, označite izobrazbeno raven vaših staršev oziroma skrbnikov.

Mati Oče Stopnja

II. OŠ

III. in IV. nižje ali srednje poklicno izobraževanje (2 in 3 letno)

V. gimnazijsko, srednje poklicno-tehniško izobraževanje, srednje tehniško oz. drugo strokovno izobraževanje

VI/1. In VI/2. višješolski in visokošolski strokovni program

A Najprej nekaj vprašanj o vas in vaši družini

  86  

VII. specializacija po visokošolskem strokovnem programu, univerzitetni program

VIII/1. specializacija po univerzitetnem programu, magisterij znanosti

VIII/2. doktorat znanosti

A6 Prosimo, navedite izobrazbeno smer in zaposlitveni status svojih staršev ali skrbnikov.

Starš ali skrbnik Izobrazbena smer

(npr. strojni tehnik; programer)

Trenutni poklic ali zaposlitev

(npr. inženir v gradbenem podjetju; S.P.

električar; gimnazijski učitelj; itn.)

MATI

OČE

B1 Kako pogosto se v različnih medijih (TV, časopisi, internet, itn.) posvetite navedenim temam?

Nikoli Nekajkrat na mesec Nekajkrat na teden Vsak dan

Politika (poročila, reportaže, članki, itn.)

Mednarodne in lokalne novice

Kultura (filmi, glasba, ples, itn.)

Gospodarstvo

Znanost in tehnologija

Šport

B2 Kako pogosto ste se v zadnjem letu ukvarjali z naslednjimi dejavnostmi?

Nikoli Nekajkrat na leto Nekajkrat na mesec Enkrat na teden ali več

Poslušanje glasbe ali branje književnosti

Obisk muzejev, galerij, gledališča, opere itn.

Umetnostno udejstvovanje (pisanje, igranje

glasbe, slikanje, itn.)

Organizirana športna aktivnost (športni klub)

B Nekaj vprašanj o vaših prostočasnih dejavnostih in interesih

  87  

Politična ali dijaška aktivnost

Dodatno učenje tujega jezika

Drugo: ________________

B3 Ali ste se katerega od zgoraj naštetih dogodkov ali aktivnosti udeleževali s starši ali skrbniki?

da, pogosto da, vendar redko ne, brez staršev oz. skrbnikov

B4 Kakšno oceno bi dali naslednjim filmom?

Slab Dober Odličen Filma ne poznam

Boter I

Pulp Fiction

Matrix I

Lord of the Rings I

Petelinji zajtrk

Gremo mi po svoje

B5 Prosimo, označite svoje najljubše literarne žanre.

klasični romani fantazijska književnost detektivke znanstvena fantastika

stripi poezija dramatika drugo: ___________________

B6 Prosimo, označite svoje najljubše glasbene žanre.

pop rock jazz klasična glasba punk reagge

narodnozabavna glasba hip-hop drugo: ___________________

B7 Kako pogosto ste si v zadnjem letu sposojali knjige v knjižnici (šolski ali kateri drugi)?

nikoli nekajkrat v letu skoraj vsaj mesec enkrat na mesec večkrat na mesec

B8 Kako pogosto ste se v zadnjem letu z družinskimi člani ali prijatelji pogovarjali o kateri od naslednjih

tem:

Nikoli Nekajkrat na leto Nekajkrat na

mesec

Nekajkrat na teden

Politika in/ali gospodarstvo

Družbena vprašanja

Književnost, glasba in umetnost

Znanost in tehnologija

B9 Ste bili v gimnazijskih letih član kakšnega društva? Prosimo, označite.

dijaško društvo politično društvo kulturno društvo športno društvo drugo: ___________