Our study raises the possibility that summer inequities in nonacademic learning may be even more egregious than the academic disparities that past research has emphasized.

From Social Reproduction and Child-Rearing Practices: Social Class, Children's Agency, and the Summer Activity Gap by Tiffani Chin and Meredith Phillips.

Methodologically, our qualitative data clarify why surveys that simply ask about children's participation in various activities, such as whether children went on vacation, attended camp, or practiced academic skills over the summer, will likely miss much of the social class-related variance in children's experiences. These nominally similar activities are so heterogeneous that surveys must ask much more detailed questions about the content of activities and how well they were supervised for sociologists to model the causes of differential summer learning.

Substantively, our study raises the possibility that summer inequities in nonacademic learning may be even more egregious than the academic disparities that past research has emphasized. Because norms about summer "vacation" dictate that it should provide a "break from school," few children-from any social-class background-do rigorous, sustained academic work or practice, other than reading, over the summer (see also, Heyns 1978). Instead, parents use summer as a time to augment the education that children receive during the school year. Over the summer, many children learn more about their religion; develop their talents in music, art, and sports; and gain exposure to new environments that not only provide entertainment, but may stimulate their future interest in music, art, science, history, and culture.

But stark class differences exist in the quantity of these opportunities. Whereas middle-class children who express an interest or talent to their parents typically receive an opportunity to develop it, working-class and poor children rely more heavily on challenging themselves, being lucky in finding free programs, and having friends who can help them develop their talents. Moreover, middle-class children, especially those in families in which their parents or nannies can spend time shuttling them from one activity to the next, have the opportunity to develop numerous talents and gain exposure to a wide array of new environments over the summer. These social-class differences probably produce both a "talent development gap" and a "cultural exposure gap," which, if exacerbated each summer, contribute to disparities in children's future life chances.