Family Capitals and Education Acquisitions: Analysis on the Mediating Effect of Shadow Education

The purpose of this study is to explore whether family capitals and shadow education affect students’ education acquisitions. The study constructs the social reproduction theory mode of family capitals influence on children’s education acquisitions. Using 2014 Chinese education tracking data, this study examined shadow education’s mediation effects on the process of family capitals affecting on education acquisitions for middle school students. Family capitals and shadow education jointly affect the education acquisitions of students, in which, shadow education plays an intermediary role between family capitals and education acquisitions for students. In sum, shadow education is increasingly becoming a supplement to school education and may become a new intermediary for family capitals influence on students' education acquisitions. The study adds to the limited literature in this particular field concerning the mediating effects of shadow education on family capitals and education acquisitions. Best Evid Chin Edu 2019; 1(2):87-107. Doi: 10.15354/bece.19.ar1019