Hg. Van De Werfhorst et G. Kraaykamp, Four field-related educational resources and their impact on labor, consumption, and sociopolitical orientation, SOCIOL EDUC, 74(4), 2001, pp. 296-317
In modern societies, understanding the role of education in social inequali
ty requires more than the study of the level of education attained. Attenti
on should also be paid to the field of study in which people are educated.
The authors propose that fields of study supply four types of resources to
students: cultural, economic, communicative, and technical. Drawing on data
from a nationally representative Dutch survey, they developed scales that
measure the prevalence of these four types of resources across 11 fields of
study. These scales are related to a wide range of variables in three doma
ins: the labor market, consumption patterns, and sociopolitical orientation
s. Controlling for level of education, individuals who obtained many cultur
al resources more often participate in highbrow culture and attain a high c
ultural occupational status. Individuals who were trained in fields that pr
ovide economic resources are more materialistic and conservative in their b
ehavior and attain high economic-status jobs. Those whose field of study at
tended to communicative qualities are more liberal in their sociopolitical
orientation and participate more often in voluntary organizations. Technica
lly educated people tend to have low occupational-status jobs and lifestyle
preferences directly associated with their technical skills.