Understanding the Role of Economic, Cultural, and Social Capital and Habitus in Student College Choice: An Investigation of Student, Family, and School Contexts by Eunjong Ra A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Higher Education) in The University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor Stephen L. DesJardins, Chair Professor Brian P. McCall Professor Edward P. St. John Professor Alford A. Young, Jr. © Eunjong Ra 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to express my gratitude to all who have given me their kind help and support during my work on this dissertation. My first thanks go to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) of the Korean government and the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE) at the University of Michigan. Without their generous scholarships, I could never even have set out on this journey. I also greatly appreciate many members of the CSHPE community for their support in this process. My deepest gratitude goes to each of my committee members. I have been privileged to work with Professor Steve DesJardins, who has been my academic advisor, supervisor, and dissertation chair. Even before I started to write this dissertation, he always listened to my concerns and answered my questions, and he has been a truly supportive mentor, who extended a hand whenever I found myself crossing dark valleys. During the dissertation process, he offered extraordinarily helpful and considerate feedback on my study. I appreciate his advice, which greatly improved my study after I incorporated it. I also feel very fortunate to have worked with Professor Brian McCall, whose strong skills and knowledge of statistics have offered me invaluable help in maximizing the quality of this work. In addition, I am grateful to have Professor Ed St. John as my committee member. Having him on my committee enabled me to seriously learn theory. I appreciate the enthusiasm and patience he showed when he observed my progress on this work. Finally, I very much appreciate the opportunity to work with Professor Alford Young, Jr., whose extensive knowledge of sociological theories have offered me great help in thinking critically about and applying sociological constructs. I cannot imagine having completed this work without these four respectable committee members. I must also acknowledge my cohort members in CSHPE. Karen Moronski- Chapman has helped me from my first year; when I hesitated to do something because of ii my lack of comfort in this different cultural environment, she always encouraged me and provided sincere and genuine advice. Her invitations to her home in Buffalo, along with occasional visits to her home in Ann Arbor, have offered me unique opportunities to learn about this country and its people. As they promised, when she and her husband, Bill Chapman, travel to Korea, I would like to provide the same warmhearted welcome that they gave me. I feel grateful for my friendships with Julie Posselt and Matt Holsapple while we were working on our CQE and other milestones. When we regularly met in the ERC and talked about our concerns, I felt my stress about the CQE reduce. I am also thankful for those who helped me with my CQE and in the bridging stage between the CQE and dissertation, including Professor Michael Bastedo, Professor Jan Lawrence, Johanna Masse, Lijing Yang, Jiyun Kim, Carmen McCallum, Peter Bacevice, and Pelema Morrice. I also appreciate the help of Rosie Perez, Kerri Wakefield, Ozan Jaquette, Jeongeun Kim, Rob Bielby, Brian Burt, Ethan Stephenson, Melinda Richardson, Linda Rayle, and Joan McCoy. All of these people have demonstrated how supportive the community here at CSHPE is. Apart from CSHPE, I should acknowledge the help of CRLT Director Cindy Finelli. Beyond financial support, she has been such a considerate and nice supervisor who always says thank-you for the work I do. Various work experiences with her also helped me broaden my perspectives. I have been impressed by the generous help of those people whom I have never met. Mr. John Wirt from the National Center for Education Statistics has provided me with technical assistance on the data used for this study, and Professor Patrick Royston from MRC Clinical Trials Unit in London has kindly responded to all of my emailed questions regarding the multiple imputation of missing values with ICE. In addition to these people, I would like to acknowledge Brady West and Lingling Zhang at the Center for Statistical Consultation and Research (CSCAR) for their patience and assistance regarding statistical issues. Although there is much room for improvement, my writing iii has greatly improved with the help of many people, especially Ruth Mendel, Shaw Lacy, Danielle L-M, and Chris Feak. There are friends whom I met here and with whom I spent holidays. Minyoung Kwak, Ayoung Kim, Minsung Kwon, and Jinyoung Hwang are the friends who made this journey feel less lonely. My old friends in Korea – Keun-young Shin, Dong-keuk Kang, and Cheol-rak Jeong – have provided me real care, support, and pleasure. In addition, greetings from my colleagues in Korea, Nari Kim and Hyun-mi Lee, made me feel less isolated while studying abroad. I believe I was able to endure all of my difficulties in my everyday life thanks to these people: Chun-Ran Park, Lillian Kuiper, Joo En Grace Kim, and Laura Monschau. Chun-Ran Park helped me know and believe in God when I was in the darkest situations, and she demonstrated godliness of mind and life by her own words and actions. Bible study with Lillian Kuiper provided me with peace, wisdom, and strength. Whenever I see her pure eyes and good spirits, I feel as though I am with a real angel. I am always humbled after talking to Joo En Grace Kim, who has faith in God and maintains her relationship with Him, despite her difficult situation. Laura Monschau offered me invaluable advice and care regarding my every step of life. My final gratitude goes to my family members in Korea to whom I am extremely indebted. Their trust, love, and encouragement made me always feel their presence here with me and have given me the strength to overcome all the difficulties in this new world. I heard my nieces growing up over the phone, and conversations with them always made me happy. I seek my siblings‟ forgiveness for being unable to attend their weddings, and I also seek their understanding that I was not of help when my mother and sister were sick and in the hospital. I sincerely hope that I will be able to show all of my love and support for them in the near future. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Background of the Study and Statement of the Problem ................................................ 1 The role of habitus ...................................................................................................... 4 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 8 Organization of the Study ............................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 12 Review of Literature and Conceptual Framework ............................................................ 12 Theories and Models of College Choice ....................................................................... 12 Economic Perspective of Human Capital Investment .............................................. 12 Limitations of Human Capital Theory: A Perspective from Behavioral Economics ............................................................................................................................... 14 Sociological Criticism of the Economic Notion of Rational Choice .................... 15 Sociological Perspectives.......................................................................................... 17 Status Attainment Theory ..................................................................................... 17 Theories of Capital: Economic, Cultural, and Social Capital ............................... 18 Economic Capital ...................................................................................................... 18 Cultural Capital ......................................................................................................... 20 Social Capital ...........................................................................................................