Empirical Evaluation of Social and Cultural Reproduction Theory in Acquiring Graduate Education

The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate social and cultural reproduction theory in the pursuit of education. Thus, the theory of social reproduction, cultural reproduction and social capital have been utilized to develop the theoretical framework. The research type in regard to its goal is applied and in regard to data collection method is survey research. A questionnaire has been used to collect data. Population of this research covered all graduate students of West Azerbaijan province universities in the academic year 1392-1393 (n=9352, according to available statistics) among them 132 students were selected randomly as research sample through multi stage cluster sampling. To test the research hypotheses, Pearson correlation, multiple regression and path analysis technique have been employed. Empirical findings indicate that independent variables including socio-economic status, social capital and cultural capital affect academic success of students in pursuing higher education.