Sociology, for its part, is primarily interested in the socialization effects of education in Certificate IV in IT. The school plays a major role in the primary socialization of individuals. In the wake of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, sociology has been largely interested in the inculcation of an ideology and the transmission of cultural capital.
Other works have refined the observation, reading, culture, or social ascent. Thus, sociologists today relativize, following the work of Baudelot and Establet, the decline in reading, commonly accepted. Admittedly, reading has lost ground compared to earlier eras. But it has fallen less than is commonly claimed, and its previous level was not so high as what the writings of learned authors like Gide or Ernaux suggest.
The observation of cultural practices also undermines certain presuppositions. Although the text reproduced in this work clearly dates from before the publication of the Culture of Individuals, by Bernard Lahire, the conclusions of other works, in particular those of Philippe Coulangeon on music, underline the extent to which education influences tastes and cultural practices.
Contrary to certain interpretations concluding that social differences have collapsed to the benefit of mass culture, it seems that the most qualified (the diploma variable being the most discriminating) are characterized by a more marked eclecticism, which leads to the consumption of certain forms of cultivated culture in addition to mass culture. This formation of a particular taste is indeed one of the singular effects of education, which participates in its overall function of socialization.
Political behavior also seems to stem in part from the level of education of certificate 4 in information technology. If the level of diploma in no way prejudges political orientation and interest in political issues, two effects seem nevertheless quite clear: political liberalism and the ability to talk about political subjects. The greater political liberalism of the most educated has been observed empirically in the United States (in particular through surveys on the perception of the demands of blacks in the 1960s) and in France, through the analysis of the National Front vote. However, we must beware of concluding that education has a vast effect on liberating prejudices, and for the time being stick to an empirical observation that could just as well be explained by the sociology of teachers. L’s example of Bennington College is quite telling in this regard. In this liberal (in the American sense) college of the 1930s, the professors were overwhelmingly in favor of the New Deal and discussed it fairly freely with their students. More than 40 years later, they still expressed rather democratic opinions. The other effect of education is the ability to talk about politics in conceptual terms such as left, right, liberal, republican… These terms are not well understood by the less educated, who nevertheless show no less interest in politics. public thing.