Meanings of work and cultural capital for university students in northwestern Mexico

Abstract

The relationship between cultural capital and the meanings assigned to work was evaluated in a sample of 156 industrial engineering students recently enrolled in a public university. The sampling method was convenience sampling, and the cross-sectional design was non-experimental. A questionnaire including sociodemographic variables and those related to the meanings of work and cultural capital was used. We found that cultural capital inherited from the father is what most influences work to be considered central, although it ranked fourth, after family, school and leisure time. Income, learning and the fact that a job is interesting were also found to be paramount, as well as men responding to duty as providers. We conclude that the meaning assigned to work remains central, after family and school, and that the most influential cultural capital is paternal.