Intergenerational transmission of educational field resources. The impact of parental resources and socialisation practices on children's fields of study in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, more and more people now attend colleges and universiti es, thus making the relation between family background and field of study a n important social stratification issue. We assume that choosing a scholast ic field is indicative of a specific set of resources. Four types of resour ces are assigned to individuals according to their field of study, i.e. cul tural, economic, communicative and technical resources. The results of our analysis of a nationally representative Dutch sample (N=1,588) suggest that field resources related to labour market success (economic and technical f ield resources) are reproduced directly, implying that children take their parents' social position as a frame of reference. Cultural and communicativ e field resources are more open to specific types of socialisation, which e mphasizes the relevance of cultural aspects of the background family. No ge nder differences in the impact of socialisation on field resources were obs erved. Inter-cohort stability in the impact of family background means the openness of Dutch society has not increased with respect to educational fie ld resources.