The power of digital and traditional cultural capital: unpacking the association between family material deprivation and academic performance in eight countries

This study examines the mechanisms through which family material deprivation influences children’s academic performance, with particular emphasis on the mediating roles of traditional and digital cultural capital. Grounded in Bourdieu’s theories of capital conversion and cultural reproduction, the study conceptualizes cultural capital in both traditional and digital dimensions to offer an integrated framework for understanding educational inequality in the digital age. Drawing on cross-national survey data from eight countries, we employ multiple mediation analysis to test three hypotheses: (1) family material deprivation is negatively associated with academic performance; (2) traditional cultural capital mediates this association; and (3) digital cultural capital mediates this association. Importantly, the mediating effect of digital cultural capital surpasses that of its traditional counterpart, underscoring the increasing salience of digital resources in contemporary learning environments. These results advance a more nuanced understanding of educational inequality and highlight the need for child-centered policies and interventions that enhance access to cultural capital in both material and digital domains.