The paper examines the influence of cultural capital from one's family of origin on adult participation in education. International research confirms that factors such as education level, professional status, age, and attitudes significantly explain variations in adult learning. To explore inequalities in adult education participation further, the study adopts Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework of cultural reproduction. The main hypothesis is that the cultural capital of one's family of origin indirectly affects adult learning through an individual's institutionalized capital (educational level) and embodied capital (attitude toward learning). These hypotheses were tested and validated using a structural equation model (SEM) applied to data from a nationwide random sample of the adult population in Poland. The influence of cultural capital from one's family of origin persists throughout an individual's lifetime, impacting both educational attainment and adult learning.
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