The article proposes a reflection on the book The Inheritors published in 1964, in France, by Bourdieu and Passeron. The text starts by characterizing the work's social and sociological context, as well as the empirical data that supports the authors' analysis. It continues by dealing with their thesis on the inequalities of access to higher education, disparities in choice of majors and in pathways, as well as the different ways of relating with the legitimate culture and the university world, according to their different social groups. It ends with an examination of the proposal of a "rational pedagogy", defended at the end of the book, as the only possible way to neutralize the action of cultural inheritance over the individuals' schooling destinies.
Keywords: Bourdieu's Sociology of Education; Education and social inequality; Social origin and higher education.