Educational Achievement as Defining Factor in Social Stratification: Incidence in Social Mobility in Contemporary Spain

One especially relevant key theme in Sociology of Education is to what extent parents’ cultural level has significant implications in students’ educational achievement and, as a consequence, in the social mobility inherently linked to level of education and professional training – that is, how far the so-called cultural capital has a meaningful influence on current Spanish society. In order to investigate this aspect, our purpose has been to make an analysis based on data coming from public opinion surveys carried out by major sociological and statistical Spanish institutions. Since recently, these data are freely available to researchers, what makes possible the access to viewpoints of large samples of respondents. In short, with a view in the two-generation transit throughout the Spanish educational system, we will observe the validity of patterns of social and cultural inequality still influencing – though not determining – the educational achievement of Spanish population and, therefore, its professional development.