Capital cultural y rendimiento académico de estudiantes normalistas en Sonora, México

TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between a student community's social origin and academic performance in three normal school sites in Sonora was studied, and the results showed that the student's family, school, and economic capitals are associated with academic performance.

Abstract: In recent years, international and national test results have been unfavorable for Mexico’s educational system, turning the spotlight on teachers’ quality. This problem has also occurred in the public teaching entrance examination and calls into question the efficiency of the initial training provided by Mexican normal schools. This paper intends to study the relationship between a student community’s social origin and academic performance in three normal school sites in Sonora. It analyzes a cohort of 268 students through the five cultural capital types that, as variables, contribute to exploring academic performance. Besides, it determines the social origin of the students through K-means clustering. Through an analysis of the Pearson correlation coefficient, the results show that the student’s family, school, and economic capitals are associated with academic performance. Afterward, a linear regression analysis was carried out where the highest Beta value was for the school capital variable. In conclusion, in a framework of social inequality, the school and economic capitals take part in the educational achievement of students who are being trained as teachers.