Cultural Capital in Higher Education: A Case Study of Extension Requests

Recent literature conceptualizes accommodation-seeking behaviors as a form of cultural capital. However, quantitative research on this type of cultural capital is limited. In this paper, we quantitatively examine a particular form of cultural capital—asking for extensions on assignments or tests. We present empirical findings from a short survey to post-secondary students at a large research university in Canada. We find evidence that higher-socioeconomic status students negotiate institutional rules more often by asking for more extensions, and that cultural capital could be transmitted via social networks. We do not find evidence that cultural capital leads to higher academic achievements. Furthermore, we find evidence of interdisciplinary variations in how social class is associated with cultural capital. We discuss how our findings extend scholars’ theoretical understanding of cultural capital and how cultural capital reproduces social inequality.