Income Sustainability through Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Ronald H.; McChesney, Christopher S.

2015-01-01

The authors examined the sustainability of income, as it relates to educational attainment, from the two recent decades, which includes three significant economic downturns. The data was analyzed to determine trends in the wealth gap, parsed by educational attainment and gender. Utilizing the data from 1991 through 2010, predictions in changes in…

Genetic Influence on Intergenerational Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Ayorech, Ziada; Krapohl, Eva; Plomin, Robert; von Stumm, Sophie

2017-01-01

Using twin (6,105 twin pairs) and genomic (5,825 unrelated individuals taken from the twin sample) analyses, we tested for genetic influences on the parent-offspring correspondence in educational attainment. Genetics accounted for nearly half of the variance in intergenerational educational attainment. A genomewide polygenic score (GPS) for years of education was also associated with intergenerational educational attainment: The highest and lowest GPS means were found for offspring in stably educated families (i.e., who had taken A Levels and had a university-educated parent; M = 0.43, SD = 0.97) and stably uneducated families (i.e., who had not taken A Levels and had no university-educated parent; M = −0.19, SD = 0.97). The average GPSs fell in between for children who were upwardly mobile (i.e., who had taken A Levels but had no university-educated parent; M = 0.05, SD = 0.96) and children who were downwardly mobile (i.e., who had not taken A Levels but had a university-educated parent; M = 0.28, SD = 1.03). Genetic influences on intergenerational educational attainment can be viewed as an index of equality of educational opportunity. PMID:28715641

Genetic Influence on Intergenerational Educational Attainment.

PubMed

Ayorech, Ziada; Krapohl, Eva; Plomin, Robert; von Stumm, Sophie

2017-09-01

Using twin (6,105 twin pairs) and genomic (5,825 unrelated individuals taken from the twin sample) analyses, we tested for genetic influences on the parent-offspring correspondence in educational attainment. Genetics accounted for nearly half of the variance in intergenerational educational attainment. A genomewide polygenic score (GPS) for years of education was also associated with intergenerational educational attainment: The highest and lowest GPS means were found for offspring in stably educated families (i.e., who had taken A Levels and had a university-educated parent; M = 0.43, SD = 0.97) and stably uneducated families (i.e., who had not taken A Levels and had no university-educated parent; M = -0.19, SD = 0.97). The average GPSs fell in between for children who were upwardly mobile (i.e., who had taken A Levels but had no university-educated parent; M = 0.05, SD = 0.96) and children who were downwardly mobile (i.e., who had not taken A Levels but had a university-educated parent; M = 0.28, SD = 1.03). Genetic influences on intergenerational educational attainment can be viewed as an index of equality of educational opportunity.

Time Use and Educational Attainment: A Study of Undergraduate Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etcheverry, Emily J.; And Others

1993-01-01

A Canadian university study of 308 students' time use in academic areas used a model relating variables of social background, social psychological characteristics, time use, and educational attainment. Findings suggested that, taking into account these other variables, the time students spend on academic activities and paid employment has little…

Educational attainment in poor comprehenders

PubMed Central

Ricketts, Jessie; Sperring, Rachael; Nation, Kate

2014-01-01

To date, only one study has investigated educational attainment in poor (reading) comprehenders, providing evidence of poor performance on national UK school tests at age 11 years relative to peers (Cain and Oakhill, 2006). In the present study, we adopted a longitudinal approach, tracking attainment on such tests from 11 years to the end of compulsory schooling in the UK (age 16 years). We aimed to investigate the proposal that educational weaknesses (defined as poor performance on national assessments) might become more pronounced over time, as the curriculum places increasing demands on reading comprehension. Participants comprised 15 poor comprehenders and 15 controls; groups were matched for chronological age, nonverbal reasoning ability and decoding skill. Children were identified at age 9 years using standardized measures of nonverbal reasoning, decoding and reading comprehension. These measures, along with a measure of oral vocabulary knowledge, were repeated at age 11 years. Data on educational attainment were collected from all participants (n = 30) at age 11 and from a subgroup (n = 21) at 16 years. Compared to controls, educational attainment in poor comprehenders was lower at ages 11 and 16 years, an effect that was significant at 11 years. When poor comprehenders were compared to national performance levels, they showed significantly lower performance at both time points. Low educational attainment was not evident for all poor comprehenders. Nonetheless, our findings point to a link between reading comprehension difficulties in mid to late childhood and poor educational outcomes at ages 11 and 16 years. At these ages, pupils in the UK are making key transitions: they move from primary to secondary schools at 11, and out of compulsory schooling at 16. PMID:24904464

Social Background, Composition and Educational Growth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mare, Robert D.

1979-01-01

Studies the impact of changes in family background on grade-level attainment for White males between 1907-1951. Findings show that the effects of social background on grade attainment decrease with increasing levels of attainment. Reprint available from Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI 53706. (AM)

Education across Borders: The Relationship between Age at Migration and Educational Attainment for Mexico-U.S. Child Migrants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Karyn

2016-01-01

Background/Context: The flow of people, including children, across international borders is a growing trend. While research has emphasized the relationship between parental migration and children's educational outcomes, little is known about how child migration itself influences educational attainment. Purpose: To examine the relationship between…

Educational Attainment: Analysis by Immigrant Generation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiswick, Barry R.; DebBurman, Noyna

2004-01-01

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the largely ignored issue of the determinants of the educational attainment of adults by immigrant generation. Using current population survey (CPS) data, differences in educational attainment are analyzed by immigrant generation (first, second, and higher order generations), and among…

A Developmental Process Analysis of Cross-Generational Continuity in Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pettit, Gregory S.; Yu, Tianyi; Dodge, Kenneth A.; Bates, John E.

2009-01-01

In this prospective longitudinal study (N = 585) we examined intergenerational links in level of educational attainment. Of particular interest was whether family background characteristics, parenting in early childhood and early adolescence, and school adjustment and performance in middle childhood accounted for (i.e., mediated) continuity and…

Inequality and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Massachusetts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papay, John P.; Murnane, Richard J.; Willett, John B.

2013-01-01

In the past thirty years educational attainments in the United States have stagnated, particularly for low-income Americans. As a result, income-related gaps in educational attainments have grown. These gaps are important because education has historically been the key mechanism for intergenerational socio-economic mobility in the U.S. While the…

The Pivotal Role of Education in the Association between Ability and Social Class Attainment: A Look across Three Generations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Wendy; Brett, Caroline E.; Deary, Ian J.

2010-01-01

Previous studies have established that family social background and individual mental ability and educational attainment contribute to adult social class attainment. We propose that social class of origin acts as ballast, restraining otherwise meritocratic social class movement, and that education is the primary means through which social class…

Biological and socio-cultural factors during the school years predicting women’s lifetime educational attainment

PubMed Central

Hendrick, C. Emily; Cohen, Alison K.; Deardorff, Julianna

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Lifetime educational attainment is an important predictor of health and well-being for women in the United States. In the current study, we examine the roles of socio-cultural factors in youth and an understudied biological life event, pubertal timing, in predicting women’s lifetime educational attainment. METHODS Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N = 3889), we conducted sequential multivariate linear regression analyses to investigate the influences of macro-level and family-level socio-cultural contextual factors in youth (region of country, urbanicity, race/ethnicity, year of birth, household composition, mother’s education, mother’s age at first birth) and early menarche, a marker of early pubertal development, on women’s educational attainment after age 24. RESULTS Pubertal timing and all socio-cultural factors in youth, other than year of birth, predicted women’s lifetime educational attainment in bivariate models. Family factors had the strongest associations. When family factors were added to multivariate models, geographic region in youth and pubertal timing were no longer significant. CONCLUSION Our findings provide additional evidence that family factors should be considered when developing comprehensive and inclusive interventions in childhood and adolescence to promote lifetime educational attainment among girls. PMID:26830508

Relative Age Effects on Physical Education Attainment and School Sport Representation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cobley, Stephen; Abraham, Colin; Baker, Joseph

2008-01-01

Background: The "Relative Age Effect" (RAE) has consistently been demonstrated to influence attainment in various contexts. In education, RAE appears to provide an advantage to those born during initial months of an academic year, compared with those born in later months. A similar effect has been noted in many sports, with those born…

Mental Health Problems and Educational Attainment in Adolescence: 9-Year Follow-Up of the TRAILS Study

PubMed Central

Veldman, Karin; Bültmann, Ute; Stewart, Roy E.; Ormel, Johan; Verhulst, Frank C.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.

2014-01-01

Background This study examines if mental health problems at age 11 and changes in mental health problems between age 11 and 16 predict educational attainment of adolescents at age 19, overall and stratified by gender. Methods Data from 1711 adolescents (76.8% from initial cohort) of the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS), a Dutch prospective cohort study with 9year follow-up, were used. Mental health problems (externalizing, internalizing and attention problems) were measured by the Youth Self Report and the Child Behavior Checklist at ages 11 and 16. Difference scores for mental health problems between age 11 and 16 were calculated. Educational attainment was assessed at age 19. Results Externalizing, internalizing and attention problems at age 11 were significantly associated with low educational attainment at age 19 (crude model). When adjusted for demographic variables and the other mental health problems, only the association for attention problems remained significant (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval: 3.19, 2.11–4.83). Increasing externalizing problems between age 11 and 16 also predicted low educational attainment at age 19 (OR 3.12, 1.83–5.32). Among girls, increasing internalizing problems between age 11 and 16 predicted low educational attainment (OR 2.21, 1.25–3.94). For boys, no significant association was found for increasing internalizing problems and low educational attainment. For increasing attention problems between age 11 and 16 no significant association with low educational attainment was found. Conclusions Externalizing, internalizing and attention problems at age 11 and an increase of these problems during adolescence predicted low educational attainment at age 19. Early treatment of these mental health problems may improve educational attainment, and reduce socioeconomic health differences in adulthood. PMID:25047692

Educational attainment, perceived control and the quality of women's diets.

PubMed

Barker, Mary; Lawrence, Wendy; Crozier, Sarah; Robinson, Siân; Baird, Janis; Margetts, Barrie; Cooper, Cyrus

2009-06-01

Data from the Southampton Women's Survey have established that women of lower educational attainment have poorer quality diets than those of higher educational attainment. This relationship is strong and graded such that for every increase in level of educational qualification, there is an increase in the likelihood that a woman will have a better quality diet. It is not wholly explained by socio-economic status. Qualitative research carried out in Southampton suggests that women of lower educational attainment may have a poorer diet because they feel they lack control over the food choices they make for themselves and their families. We set out to investigate the relationship between educational attainment, perceived control and quality of diet in a sample of women from Southampton. Cross-sectional study using structured interviews in which women's diet, educational attainment and perceived control were assessed. 19 Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. 372 women, median age 28 years. Quality of diet assessed by prudent diet score produced from principal components analysis of 20-item food frequency questionnaire, and perceived control assessed by a validated questionnaire. Women of lower educational attainment tended to have lower prudent diet scores and lower perceived control scores than women of higher educational attainment. Having a lower prudent diet score was associated with consuming fewer vegetables and vegetable dishes, less wholemeal bread and vegetarian food, and more chips and roast potatoes, meat pies, Yorkshire puddings and pancakes, crisps and snacks, white bread and added sugar. In a regression model both lower educational attainment and lower perceived control were associated with lower prudent diet scores, independent of the effects of confounding factors. However there was an interaction effect such that lower perceived control was only related to prudent diet score in the group of women of lower educational attainment. Women

Adolescent Sexuality, Masculinity-Femininity, and Educational Attainment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harry, Joseph

The role of adolescent sexual behavior in educational attainment has been overlooked. Homosexual and heterosexual men were interviewed to test for a correlation between adolescent sexual activeness and educational attainment, as well as any link between childhood masculine sex roles and early sexual activity. Approximately 1,000 volunteers,…

Adolescent Family Experiences and Educational Attainment during Early Adulthood

PubMed Central

Melby, Janet N.; Conger, Rand D.; Fang, Shu-Ann; Wickrama, K. A. S.; Conger, Katherine J.

2009-01-01

This study investigated the degree to which a family investment model would help account for the association between family of origin socioeconomic characteristics and the later educational attainment of 451 young adults (age 26) from two-parent families. Parents’ educational level, occupational prestige, and family income in 1989 each had a statistically significant direct relationship with youths’ educational attainment in 2002. Consistent with the theoretical model guiding the study, parents’ educational level and family income also demonstrated statistically significant indirect effects on later educational attainment through their associations with growth trajectories for supportive parenting, sibling relations, and adolescent academic engagement. Supportive parenting and sibling relations were linked to later educational attainment through their association with adolescent academic engagement. Academic engagement during adolescence was associated with educational attainment in young adulthood. These basic processes operated similarly regardless of youths’ gender, target youths’ age relative to a near-age sibling, gender composition of the sibling dyad, or gender of parent. PMID:18999319

Neighborhood Effects on Educational Attainment: A Multilevel Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garner, Catherine L.; Raudenbush, Stephen W.

1991-01-01

Presents results of a study of neighborhood effects on educational attainment in Scotland. Reports a significant negative association between deprivation in the home neighborhood and educational attainment. Concludes that policies to alleviate educational disadvantage must focus on social deprivation in the society at large and not just on…

Groundwater arsenic and education attainment in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Murray, Michael P; Sharmin, Raisa

2015-10-26

Thousands of groundwater tube wells serving millions of Bangladeshis are arsenic contaminated. This study investigates the effect of these wells on the education attainment and school attendance of youths who rely on those wells for drinking water. The analysis combines data from the 2006 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2006 MICS) and the National Hydrochemical Survey (NHS) of Bangladeshi tube wells' contamination conducted between 1998 and 2000. The study uses multiple regression analysis to estimate the differences in education attainment and school attendance among the following: (i) youths who live where tube wells are safe, (ii) youths who live where tube wells are unsafe but who report drinking from an arsenic-free source, and (iii) youths who live where tube wells are unsafe but who do not report drinking from an arsenic-free source. Controlling for other determinants of education attainment and school attendance, young Bangladeshi males who live where tube wells are unsafe (by Bangladeshis standards) but who report drinking from arsenic-free sources are found to have the same education attainment (among 19- to 21-year-olds) and school attendance (among 6- to 10-year-olds), on average, as corresponding young Bangladeshi males who live where wells are safe. But young Bangladeshi males who live where tube wells are unsafe and who do not report drinking from an arsenic-free source attain, on average, a half-year less education (among 19- to 21-year-olds) and attend school, on average, five to seven fewer days a year (among 6- to 10-year-olds) than do other Bagladeshi males of those ages. The estimated effects for females are of the same sign but much smaller in magnitude. Bangladeshi public health measures to shift drinking from unsafe to safe wells not only advance good health but also increase males' education attainment.

The Comparative Efficacy of Lifestyle Intervention and Metformin by Educational Attainment in the Diabetes Prevention Program

PubMed Central

O’Brien, Matthew J.; Whitaker, Robert C.; Yu, Daohai; Ackermann, Ronald T.

2015-01-01

Objective Educational attainment is inversely associated with type 2 diabetes risk, but it is unknown whether education impacts individuals’ diabetes prevention efforts. We examined the comparative efficacy of intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin by educational attainment among participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), an ongoing U.S. multi-site trial beginning in 1996. Methods We studied 2,910 DPP participants randomized to receive lifestyle intervention, metformin, or placebo. Stratifying by educational attainment, diabetes incidence and relative risk reductions by treatment assignment were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression. Results 47% of participants had completed college and 53% had not. Compared to placebo, lifestyle participants who had completed college demonstrated a 68% reduction in diabetes incidence (95% CI=56, 77), whereas those with less education experienced a 47% risk reduction (95% CI=29, 61). For metformin participants, college graduates experienced a 49% relative risk reduction (95% CI=33, 62), compared to 23% (95% CI=1, 41) among those with lower educational attainment. There was a statistically significant education-by-treatment interaction with incident diabetes (p=0.03). Conclusions Intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin have greater efficacy among highly educated individuals. Future efforts to deliver these treatments and study their dissemination may be more effective if tailored to individuals’ educational background. PMID:26024851

The comparative efficacy of lifestyle intervention and metformin by educational attainment in the Diabetes Prevention Program.

PubMed

O'Brien, Matthew J; Whitaker, Robert C; Yu, Daohai; Ackermann, Ronald T

2015-08-01

Educational attainment is inversely associated with type 2 diabetes risk, but it is unknown whether education impacts individuals' diabetes prevention efforts. We examined the comparative efficacy of intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin by educational attainment among participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), an ongoing U.S. multi-site trial beginning in 1996. We studied 2,910 DPP participants randomized to receive lifestyle intervention, metformin, or placebo. Stratifying by educational attainment, diabetes incidence and relative risk reductions by treatment assignment were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression. 47% of participants had completed college and 53% had not. Compared to placebo, lifestyle participants who had completed college demonstrated a 68% reduction in diabetes incidence (95% CI=56, 77), whereas those with less education experienced a 47% risk reduction (95% CI=29, 61). For metformin participants, college graduates experienced a 49% relative risk reduction (95% CI=33, 62), compared to 23% (95% CI=1, 41) among those with lower educational attainment. There was a statistically significant education-by-treatment interaction with incident diabetes (p=0.03). Intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin have greater efficacy among highly educated individuals. Future efforts to deliver these treatments and study their dissemination may be more effective if tailored to individuals' educational background. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human Capital Background and the Educational Attainment of Second-Generation Immigrants in France

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dos Santos, Manon Domingues; Wolff, Francois-Charles

2011-01-01

In this paper, we study the impact of parental human capital background on ethnic educational gaps between second-generation immigrants using a large data set conducted in France in 2003. Estimates from censored random effect ordered Probit regressions show that the skills of immigrants explain in the most part, the ethnic educational gap between…

First Nations Education: Financial Accountability and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr-Stewart, Sheila

2006-01-01

First Nations people have both a Constitutional and a Treaty right to education; however, the Crown's jurisdictional obligations to provide educational services have not lead to similar educational opportunities and attainment achievement for First Nations students as compared to Canadian students in provincial schools. Canada's Auditor General,…

Sibship size and educational attainment. A joint test of the Confluence Model and the Resource Dilution Hypothesis

PubMed Central

Jæger, Mads Meier

2012-01-01

Studies on family background often explain the negative effect of sibship size on educational attainment by one of two theories: the Confluence Model (CM) or the Resource Dilution Hypothesis (RDH). However, as both theories – for substantively different reasons – predict that sibship size should have a negative effect on educational attainment most studies cannot distinguish empirically between the CM and the RDH. In this paper, I use the different theoretical predictions in the CM and RDH on the role of cognitive ability as a partial or complete mediator of the effect of sibship size to distinguish the two theories and to identify a unique RDH effect on educational attainment. Using sibling data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) and a random effect Instrumental Variable model I find that, in addition to a negative effect on cognitive ability, sibship size also has a strong negative effect on educational attainment which is uniquely explained by the RDH. PMID:22468016

Protective Connections and Educational Attainment among Young Adults with Childhood-Onset Chronic Illness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maslow, Gary; Haydon, Abigail A.; McRee, Annie-Laurie; Halpern, Carolyn T.

2012-01-01

Background: Youth with childhood-onset chronic illness (COCI) are at risk of poor educational attainment. Specific protective factors that promote college graduation in this population have not been studied previously. In this study, we examine the role protective factors during adolescence play in promoting college graduation among young adults…

Literacy Gaps by Educational Attainment: A Cross-National Analysis.

PubMed

Park, Hyunjoon; Kyei, Pearl

2011-03-01

Existing cross-national research on educational attainment does not fully address whether the same level of educational attainment generates the same level of literacy skills in different countries. We analyze literacy skills data for young adults from 19 countries in the 1994-1998 International Adult Literacy Survey and find that in all countries, individuals with a higher level of educational attainment tend to have greater literacy skills. However, there is substantial variation across countries in the size of literacy gaps by levels of educational attainment. In particular, young adults in the United States show the largest literacy gaps. Using two-level hierarchical linear models, we find that cross-national differences in the literacy gap between more- and less-educated individuals are systematically linked to the degree of between-school inequality in school resources (instructional materials, class size, teachers' experience and certification).

Institutions, Social Norms, and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhan, Crystal

2017-01-01

Informal institutions are defined as socially shared rules that guide individuals' behaviors outside of officially sanctioned channels. This paper investigates the link between individual educational attainment and education-related informal institutions by examining second-generation immigrants in the USA. I measure the education-related informal…

Associations of Educational Attainment, Occupation, Social Class and Major Depressive Disorder among Han Chinese Women

PubMed Central

Liu, Feihu; Li, Yajuan; Wang, Junhui; Flint, Jonathan; Gao, Jingfang; Li, Youhui; Tao, Ming; Zhang, Kerang; Wang, Xumei; Gao, Chengge; Yang, Lijun; Li, Kan; Shi, Shenxun; Wang, Gang; Liu, Lanfen; Zhang, Jinbei; Du, Bo; Jiang, Guoqing; Shen, Jianhua; Zhang, Zhen; Liang, Wei; Sun, Jing; Hu, Jian; Liu, Tiebang; Wang, Xueyi; Miao, Guodong; Meng, Huaqing; Li, Yi; Hu, Chunmei; Li, Yi; Huang, Guoping; Li, Gongying; Ha, Baowei; Deng, Hong; Mei, Qiyi; Zhong, Hui; Gao, Shugui; Sang, Hong; Zhang, Yutang; Fang, Xiang; Yu, Fengyu; Yang, Donglin; Liu, Tieqiao; Chen, Yunchun; Hong, Xiaohong; Wu, Wenyuan; Chen, Guibing; Cai, Min; Song, Yan; Pan, Jiyang; Dong, Jicheng; Pan, Runde; Zhang, Wei; Shen, Zhenming; Liu, Zhengrong; Gu, Danhua; Wang, Xiaoping; Liu, Xiaojuan; Zhang, Qiwen; Li, Yihan; Chen, Yiping; Kendler, Kenneth S.

2014-01-01

Background The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is higher in those with low levels of educational attainment, the unemployed and those with low social status. However the extent to which these factors cause MDD is unclear. Most of the available data comes from studies in developed countries, and these findings may not extrapolate to developing countries. Examining the relationship between MDD and socio economic status in China is likely to add to the debate because of the radical economic and social changes occurring in China over the last 30 years. Principal findings We report results from 3,639 Chinese women with recurrent MDD and 3,800 controls. Highly significant odds ratios (ORs) were observed between MDD and full time employment (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.25–0.46, logP = 78), social status (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.77–0.87, logP = 13.3) and education attainment (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.86–0.90, logP = 6.8). We found a monotonic relationship between increasing age and increasing levels of educational attainment. Those with only primary school education have significantly more episodes of MDD (mean 6.5, P-value = 0.009) and have a clinically more severe disorder, while those with higher educational attainment are likely to manifest more comorbid anxiety disorders. Conclusions In China lower socioeconomic position is associated with increased rates of MDD, as it is elsewhere in the world. Significantly more episodes of MDD occur among those with lower educational attainment (rather than longer episodes of disease), consistent with the hypothesis that the lower socioeconomic position increases the likelihood of developing MDD. The phenomenology of MDD varies according to the degree of educational attainment: higher educational attainment not only appears to protect against MDD but alters its presentation, to a more anxious phenotype. PMID:24497966

Influence of Educational Attainment on Consumption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Xuemin; He, Youning

2007-01-01

In market economy, man is both the essential productive factor and the consuming subject. Education promotes the two aspects. As shown by investigations on the influence of educational attainment on consumption, education has great influences on people's consumption level, consumption structure, consumption modes and consumption concepts. The…

Literacy Gaps by Educational Attainment: A Cross-National Analysis

PubMed Central

Park, Hyunjoon; Kyei, Pearl

2011-01-01

Existing cross-national research on educational attainment does not fully address whether the same level of educational attainment generates the same level of literacy skills in different countries. We analyze literacy skills data for young adults from 19 countries in the 1994–1998 International Adult Literacy Survey and find that in all countries, individuals with a higher level of educational attainment tend to have greater literacy skills. However, there is substantial variation across countries in the size of literacy gaps by levels of educational attainment. In particular, young adults in the United States show the largest literacy gaps. Using two-level hierarchical linear models, we find that cross-national differences in the literacy gap between more- and less-educated individuals are systematically linked to the degree of between-school inequality in school resources (instructional materials, class size, teachers’ experience and certification). PMID:21818163

Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003. Population Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoops, Nicole

2004-01-01

The population in the United States is becoming more educated, but significant differences in educational attainment remain with regard to age, sex, race, and origin. Nevertheless, the educational attainment of young adults (25 to 29 years), which provides a glimpse of our country's future, indicates dramatic improvement by groups who have…

Education in Time: Cohort Differences in Educational Attainment in African-American Twins

PubMed Central

Szanton, Sarah L.; Johnson, Brandon; Thorpe, Roland J.; Whitfield, Keith

2009-01-01

Objectives Educational opportunities for African-Americans expanded throughout the 20th century. Twin pairs are an informative population in which to examine changes in educational attainment because each twin has the same parents and childhood socioeconomic status. We hypothesized that correlation in educational attainment of older twin pairs would be higher compared to younger twin pairs reflecting changes in educational access over time and potentially reflecting a “ceiling effect” associated with Jim Crow laws and discrimination. Methodology and Principal Findings We used data from 211 same-sex twin pairs (98 identical, 113 fraternal) in the Carolina African-American Twin Study of Aging who were identified through birth records. Participants completed an in-person interview. The twins were predominantly female (61%), with a mean age of 50 years (SD = 0.5). We found that older age groups had a stronger intra-twin correlation of attained educational level. Further analysis across strata revealed a trend across zygosity, with identical twins demonstrating more similar educational attainment levels than did their fraternal twin counterparts, suggesting a genetic influence. Discussion These findings suggest that as educational opportunities broadened in the 20th century, African-Americans gained access to educational opportunities that better matched their individual abilities. PMID:19888338

Increased Educational Attainment among U.S. Mothers and their Children's Academic Expectations.

PubMed

Augustine, Jennifer

2017-12-01

Existing research provides strong evidence that children with more educated parents have higher academic expectations for themselves, but has yet to consider how an increase in the education of lower educated mothers might alter the expectations of their children. In light of the historic increase in U.S. mothers' pursuit of additional education, this study investigates this timely question using data from a nationally representative, intergenerational sample of U.S. children and mothers participating in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth ( n mothers = 3,265; n children = 8,027). Combining random and fixed effects procedures, the findings revealed that that an increase in mothers' educational attainment is linked to an increase in their children's expectations to earn a Bachelor's degree. Increased maternal education did not, however, buffer against the risk that children will downgrade these expectations upon approaching the end of high school. These results have theoretical importance to traditional models of status attainment, which typically view parental education as a stable feature of family background; extend a small but burgeoning literature that explores whether and why increased maternal education improves the mobility prospects of their children; and speak to current two-generation policy approaches that aim to leverage trends in mothers education to reduce inequality for future generations.

Contribution of spoken language and socio-economic background to adolescents' educational achievement at age 16 years.

PubMed

Spencer, Sarah; Clegg, Judy; Stackhouse, Joy; Rush, Robert

2017-03-01

Well-documented associations exist between socio-economic background and language ability in early childhood, and between educational attainment and language ability in children with clinically referred language impairment. However, very little research has looked at the associations between language ability, educational attainment and socio-economic background during adolescence, particularly in populations without language impairment. To investigate: (1) whether adolescents with higher educational outcomes overall had higher language abilities; and (2) associations between adolescent language ability, socio-economic background and educational outcomes, specifically in relation to Mathematics, English Language and English Literature GCSE grade. A total of 151 participants completed five standardized language assessments measuring vocabulary, comprehension of sentences and spoken paragraphs, and narrative skills and one nonverbal assessment when between 13 and 14 years old. These data were compared with the participants' educational achievement obtained upon leaving secondary education (16 years old). Univariate logistic regressions were employed to identify those language assessments and demographic factors that were associated with achieving a targeted A * -C grade in English Language, English Literature and Mathematics General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) at 16 years. Further logistic regressions were then conducted to examine further the contribution of socio-economic background and spoken language skills in the multivariate models. Vocabulary, comprehension of sentences and spoken paragraphs, and mean length utterance in a narrative task along with socio-economic background contributed to whether participants achieved an A * -C grade in GCSE Mathematics and English Language and English Literature. Nonverbal ability contributed to English Language and Mathematics. The results of multivariate logistic regressions then found that vocabulary skills

Equality in Educational Policy and the Heritability of Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Colodro-Conde, Lucía; Rijsdijk, Frühling; Tornero-Gómez, María J.; Sánchez-Romera, Juan F.; Ordoñana, Juan R.

2015-01-01

Secular variation in the heritability of educational attainment are proposed to be due to the implementation of more egalitarian educational policies leading to increased equality in educational opportunities in the second part of the 20th century. The action of effect is hypothesized to be a decrease of shared environmental (e.g., family socioeconomic status or parents’ education) influences on educational attainment, giving more room for genetic differences between individuals to impact on the variation of the trait. However, this hypothesis has not yet found consistent evidence. Support for this effect relies mainly on comparisons between countries adopting different educational systems or between different time periods within a country reflecting changes in general policy. Using a population-based sample of 1271 pairs of adult twins, we analyzed the effect of the introduction of a specific educational policy in Spain in 1970. The shared-environmental variance decreased, leading to an increase in heritability in the post-reform cohort (44 vs. 67%) for males. Unstandardized estimates of genetic variance were of a similar magnitude (.56 vs. .57) between cohorts, while shared environmental variance decreased from .56 to .04. Heritability remained in the same range for women (40 vs. 34%). Our results support the role of educational policy in affecting the relative weight of genetic and environmental factors on educational attainment, such that increasing equality in educational opportunities increases heritability estimates by reducing variation of non-genetic familial origin. PMID:26618539

Mapping local variation in educational attainment across Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graetz, Nicholas; Friedman, Joseph; Osgood-Zimmerman, Aaron; Burstein, Roy; Biehl, Molly H.; Shields, Chloe; Mosser, Jonathan F.; Casey, Daniel C.; Deshpande, Aniruddha; Earl, Lucas; Reiner, Robert C.; Ray, Sarah E.; Fullman, Nancy; Levine, Aubrey J.; Stubbs, Rebecca W.; Mayala, Benjamin K.; Longbottom, Joshua; Browne, Annie J.; Bhatt, Samir; Weiss, Daniel J.; Gething, Peter W.; Mokdad, Ali H.; Lim, Stephen S.; Murray, Christopher J. L.; Gakidou, Emmanuela; Hay, Simon I.

2018-03-01

Educational attainment for women of reproductive age is linked to reduced child and maternal mortality, lower fertility and improved reproductive health. Comparable analyses of attainment exist only at the national level, potentially obscuring patterns in subnational inequality. Evidence suggests that wide disparities between urban and rural populations exist, raising questions about where the majority of progress towards the education targets of the Sustainable Development Goals is occurring in African countries. Here we explore within-country inequalities by predicting years of schooling across five by five kilometre grids, generating estimates of average educational attainment by age and sex at subnational levels. Despite marked progress in attainment from 2000 to 2015 across Africa, substantial differences persist between locations and sexes. These differences have widened in many countries, particularly across the Sahel. These high-resolution, comparable estimates improve the ability of decision-makers to plan the precisely targeted interventions that will be necessary to deliver progress during the era of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Educational Attainment of Workers, March 1975

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitmore, Bob

1976-01-01

The inverse relationship between educational attainment and unemployment is indicated in data concerning three major age groups during 1974-1975. The long-term uptrend in the educational level of the labor force continues, with college graduates experiencing changes in occupational distribution. (LH)

Educational Attainment and Smoking Status in a National Sample of American Adults; Evidence for the Blacks’ Diminished Return

PubMed Central

Mistry, Ritesh

2018-01-01

Background: Although higher socioeconomic status (SES) indicators such as educational attainment are linked with health behaviors, the Blacks’ Diminished Return theory posits that the protective effects of SES are systemically smaller for Blacks than Whites. Aims: To explore the Black/White differences in the association between education and smoking. Methods: This cross-sectional study used the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2017 (n = 3217). HINTS is a national survey of American adults. The current analysis included 2277 adults who were either Whites (n = 1868; 82%) or Blacks (n = 409; 18%). The independent variable was educational attainment, and the dependent variables were ever and current (past 30-day) smoking. Demographic factors (age and gender) were covariates. Race was the focal moderator. Results: In the pooled sample, higher educational attainment was associated with lower odds of ever and current smoking. Race interacted with the effects of higher educational attainment on current smoking, suggesting a stronger protective effect of higher education against current smoking for Whites than Blacks. Race did not interact with the effect of educational attainment on odds of ever smoking. Conclusions: In line with previous research in the United States, education is more strongly associated with health and health behaviors in Whites than Blacks. Smaller protective effects of education on health behaviors may be due to the existing racism across institutions such as the education system and labor market. PMID:29659482

Impact of Educational Attainment on Health Outcomes in Moderate to Severe CKD

PubMed Central

Morton, Rachael L.; Schlackow, Iryna; Staplin, Natalie; Gray, Alastair; Cass, Alan; Haynes, Richard; Emberson, Jonathan; Herrington, William; Landray, Martin J.; Baigent, Colin; Mihaylova, Borislava

2016-01-01

Background The inverse association between educational attainment and mortality is well established, but its relevance to vascular events and renal progression in a population with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is less clear. This study aims to determine the association between highest educational attainment and risk of vascular events, cause-specific mortality, and CKD progression. Study Design Prospective epidemiologic analysis among participants in the Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP), a randomized controlled trial. Setting & Participants 9,270 adults with moderate to severe CKD (6,245 not receiving dialysis at baseline) and no history of myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization recruited in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Predictor Highest educational attainment measured at study entry using 6 levels that ranged from “no formal education” to “tertiary education.” Outcomes Any vascular event (any fatal or nonfatal cardiac, cerebrovascular, or peripheral vascular event), cause-specific mortality, and CKD progression during 4.9 years’ median follow-up. Results There was a significant trend (P < 0.001) toward increased vascular risk with decreasing levels of education. Participants with no formal education were at a 46% higher risk of vascular events (relative risk [RR], 1.46; 95% CI, 1.14-1.86) compared with participants with tertiary education. The trend for mortality across education levels was also significant (P < 0.001): all-cause mortality was twice as high among those with no formal education compared with tertiary-educated individuals (RR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.62-2.58), and significant increases were seen for both vascular (RR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.21-2.81) and nonvascular (RR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.60-2.89) deaths. Lifestyle factors and prior disease explain most of the excess mortality risk. Among 6,245 participants not receiving dialysis at baseline, education level was not significantly associated with

Students with reading and spelling disabilities: peer groups and educational attainment in secondary education.

PubMed

Kiuru, Noona; Haverinen, Kaisa; Salmela-Aro, Katariina; Nurmi, Jari-Erik; Savolainen, Hannu; Holopainen, Leena

2011-01-01

The present study investigated whether the members of adolescents' peer groups are similar in reading and spelling disabilities and whether this similarity contributes to subsequent school achievement and educational attainment. The sample consisted of 375 Finnish adolescents whose reading and spelling disabilities were assessed at age 16 with the Finnish dyslexia screening test. The students also completed a sociometric nomination measure that was used to identify their peer groups. Register information on participants' school grades also was available, and educational attainment in secondary education was recorded 5 years after completion of the 9 years of basic education. The results revealed that the members of adolescent peer groups resembled each other in reading disabilities but not in those of spelling. Reading disabilities and academic achievement shared within the peer group also contributed to educational attainment in secondary education. Finally, reading disabilities played a larger role in educational attainment among males than among females.

Emergy Evaluation of Educational Attainment in the United States

EPA Science Inventory

The emergy of educational attainment in the United States was quantified over the period for which the necessary data were available, i.e., 1948 to 2006. We propose that the portion of the knowledge in educational attainment delivered by the active workforce be considered as part...

Educating for the Future: Baseline Estimates of Minnesota's Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fergus, Meredith; Williams-Wyche, Shaun; Brower, Susan; Egbert, Andi

2016-01-01

In 2015, the Minnesota Legislature enacted legislation setting a target that 70 percent of Minnesota adults age 25 to 44 will have attained a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2025, both for the general population and by racial/ethnic subgroups. This report fulfills the mandated reporting pursuant to Minnesota's educational attainment goal,…

DNA methylation signatures of educational attainment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Dongen, Jenny; Bonder, Marc Jan; Dekkers, Koen F.; Nivard, Michel G.; van Iterson, Maarten; Willemsen, Gonneke; Beekman, Marian; van der Spek, Ashley; van Meurs, Joyce B. J.; Franke, Lude; Heijmans, Bastiaan T.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Slagboom, P. Eline; Boomsma, Dorret I.; BIOS consortium

2018-03-01

Educational attainment is a key behavioural measure in studies of cognitive and physical health, and socioeconomic status. We measured DNA methylation at 410,746 CpGs (N = 4152) and identified 58 CpGs associated with educational attainment at loci characterized by pleiotropic functions shared with neuronal, immune and developmental processes. Associations overlapped with those for smoking behaviour, but remained after accounting for smoking at many CpGs: Effect sizes were on average 28% smaller and genome-wide significant at 11 CpGs after adjusting for smoking and were 62% smaller in never smokers. We examined sources and biological implications of education-related methylation differences, demonstrating correlations with maternal prenatal folate, smoking and air pollution signatures, and associations with gene expression in cis, dynamic methylation in foetal brain, and correlations between blood and brain. Our findings show that the methylome of lower-educated people resembles that of smokers beyond effects of their own smoking behaviour and shows traces of various other exposures.

Educational attainment and obesity: a systematic review.

PubMed

Cohen, A K; Rai, M; Rehkopf, D H; Abrams, B

2013-12-01

Although previous systematic reviews considered the relationship between socioeconomic status and obesity, almost 200 peer-reviewed articles have been published since the last review on that topic, and this paper focuses specifically on education, which has different implications. The authors systematically review the peer-reviewed literature from around the world considering the association between educational attainment and obesity. Databases from public health and medicine, education, psychology, economics, and other social sciences were searched, and articles published in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish were included. This paper includes 289 articles that report on 410 populations in 91 countries. The relationship between educational attainment and obesity was modified by both gender and the country's economic development level: an inverse association was more common in studies of higher-income countries and a positive association was more common in lower-income countries, with stronger social patterning among women. Relatively few studies reported on lower-income countries, controlled for a comprehensive set of potential confounding variables and/or attempted to assess causality through the use of quasi-experimental designs. Future research should address these gaps to understand if the relationship between educational attainment and obesity may be causal, thus supporting education policy as a tool for obesity prevention. © 2013 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2013 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Three Essays on the Economics of Higher Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hickman, Daniel C.

2010-01-01

This dissertation examines issues regarding the educational attainment of the U.S. workforce. Specifically, I investigate the impact of various factors on the growth of postsecondary educational attainment. This includes issues pertaining to improving the skill-level of the workforce at the regional or state level, as well as for the domestic…

Why Online Education Will Attain Full Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sener, John

2010-01-01

Online higher education has attained scale and is poised to take the next step in its growth. Although significant obstacles to a full scale adoption of online education remain, we will see full scale adoption of online higher education within the next five to ten years. Practically all higher education students will experience online education in…

The Relationship of Educational Attainment with Pulmonary Emphysema and Airway Wall Thickness.

PubMed

Gjerdevik, Miriam; Grydeland, Thomas B; Washko, George R; Coxson, Harvey O; Silverman, Edwin K; Gulsvik, Amund; Bakke, Per S

2015-06-01

Low educational attainment is a risk factor of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is limited knowledge on the relationship between educational level and computed tomography measures of emphysema and airway wall thickness (AWT). We hypothesized that low educational attainment is associated with increased emphysema and AWT in ever-smokers with and without COPD. We included 462 and 485 ever-smokers with and without COPD in a cross-sectional study, aged 40-86 years. The sample was divided into groups reflecting educational attainment: primary, secondary, and university. We performed linear regression to examine associations between educational attainment and both emphysema and AWT separately for those with and without COPD. We adjusted for sex, age, smoking status, age of onset of smoking, pack-years, height, and body mass index. Compared with university education, in subjects with COPD, primary education was associated with a 68.1% (95% confidence interval = 14.2-147.6%; P = 0.01) relative increase in emphysema and secondary education was associated with a 50.6% (95% confidence interval = 5.7-114.6%; P = 0.02) relative increase. There was a nonsignificant trend toward an association between lower educational attainment and increased emphysema among those without COPD (P = 0.18), yet greater age appeared to modify this association (P = 0.01). We did not detect significant linear relationships between educational attainment and AWT in subjects with or without COPD. Lower educational attainment was associated with increased emphysema among adults with COPD. Among those without COPD, this association was more pronounced with increasing age. No significant linear relationship between educational attainment and AWT was found. Clinicians treating adults with emphysema should keep in mind that factors related to low education beyond that of smoking and occupational dust exposure might be of importance to the disease.

Associations of alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and drug use/dependence with educational attainment: evidence from cotwin-control analyses.

PubMed

Grant, Julia D; Scherrer, Jeffrey F; Lynskey, Michael T; Agrawal, Arpana; Duncan, Alexis E; Haber, Jon Randolph; Heath, Andrew C; Bucholz, Kathleen K

2012-08-01

Although substance use is associated with reduced educational attainment, this association may be owing to common risk factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage. We tested whether alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drug use and dependence were associated with lifetime educational attainment after controlling for familial background characteristics. Data were from a 1987 questionnaire and a 1992 telephone diagnostic interview of 6,242 male twins (n = 3,121 pairs; mean age = 41.9 years in 1992) who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam era and therefore, were eligible for educational benefits after military service. Reduced educational attainment (<16 years) was examined in twin pairs discordant for substance use history. Substance use and dependence risk factors assessed were early alcohol and cannabis use, daily nicotine use, lifetime cannabis use, and alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and any illicit drug dependence. Three significant differences were observed between at-risk twins and their cotwins: Compared to their low-risk cotwins, likelihood of completing <16 years of education was significantly increased for the following: (i) twins who used alcohol before age 18 (adjusted OR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.05), (ii) twins with a lifetime alcohol dependence diagnosis (adjusted OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.27 to 2.44), and (iii) twins who had used nicotine daily for 30 or more days (adjusted OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.55 to 4.17). However, no differences in education were observed among twin pairs discordant for cannabis initiation, early cannabis use, or cannabis, nicotine, or any illicit drug dependence. Even in a veteran population with access to military educational benefits, early alcohol use, alcohol dependence, and daily nicotine use remained significantly associated with years of education after controlling for shared familial contributions to educational attainment. The association between other substances and educational attainment was explained by familial factors

Benefits of educational attainment on adult fluid cognition: international evidence from three birth cohorts

PubMed Central

Clouston, Sean AP; Kuh, Diana; Herd, Pamela; Elliott, Jane; Richards, Marcus; Hofer, Scott M

2012-01-01

Background Educational attainment is highly correlated with social inequalities in adult cognitive health; however, the nature of this correlation is in dispute. Recently, researchers have argued that educational inequalities are an artefact of selection by individual differences in prior cognitive ability, which both drives educational attainment and tracks across the rest of the life course. Although few would deny that educational attainment is at least partly determined by prior cognitive ability, a complementary, yet controversial, view is that education has a direct causal and lasting benefit on cognitive development. Methods We use observational data from three birth cohorts, with cognition measured in adolescence and adulthood. Ordinary least squares regression was used to model the relationship between adolescent cognition and adult fluid cognition and to test the sensitivity of our analyses to sample selection, projection and backdoor biases using propensity score matching. Results We find that having a university education is correlated with higher fluid cognition in adulthood, after adjustment for adolescent cognition. We do not find that adolescent cognition, gender or parental social class consistently modify this effect; however, women benefited more in the 1946 sample from Great Britain. Conclusions In all three birth cohorts, substantial educational benefit remained after adjustment for adolescent cognition and parental social class, offsetting an effect equivalent of 0.5 to 1.5 standard deviations lower adolescent cognition. We also find that the likelihood of earning a university degree depends in part on adolescent cognition, gender and parental social class. We conclude that inequalities in adult cognition derive in part from educational experiences after adolescence. PMID:23108707

Educational Attainment in the United States: Population Characteristics. Current Population Reports.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newburger, Eric C.; Curry, Andrea

Although the United States' overall trend reflects a more educated population, significant differences in educational attainment remain with regard to age, sex, race, and origin. Nevertheless, the educational attainment of young adults (ages 25 to 29) indicates a dramatic improvement by groups who have historically been less educated. This report…

Maternal Educational Attainment at Birth Promotes Future Self-Rated Health of White but Not Black Youth: A 15-Year Cohort of a National Sample

PubMed Central

Caldwell, Cleopatra Howard; Mincy, Ronald B.

2018-01-01

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is essential for maintaining health, and self-rated health (SRH) is not an exception to this rule. This study explored racial differences in the protective effects of maternal educational attainment at birth against poor SRH of the youth 15 years later. Methods: Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this 15-year longitudinal study followed 1934 youths from birth to age 15. This sample was composed of White (n = 497, 25.7%), and Black (n = 1437, 74.3%) youths. The independent variable was maternal educational attainment at birth. SRH at age 15 was the dependent variable. Family structure was the covariate. Race was the focal moderator. We ran logistic regression models in the pooled sample, as well as stratified models based on race. Results: In the pooled sample, maternal educational attainment and family structure were not predictive of SRH for the youths at age 15. Race interacted with maternal educational attainment, indicating a stronger association between maternal educational attainment at birth on youth SRH for Whites compared to Blacks. In race stratified models, maternal educational attainment at birth was protective against poor SRH for White but not Black youths. Conclusion: White but not Black youths gain less SRH from their maternal educational attainment. Enhancing education attainment may not have identical effects across racial groups. The health status of Blacks may be less responsive to improvements in maternal educational attainment. Policies should go beyond investing in educational attainment by empowering Black families to better use the educational attainment that they gain. Policies and programs should reduce the costs of upward social mobility for minority families. PMID:29723957

Investigating the Relationship between the Quality of Education and Level of Educational Attainment in Turkish Provinces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gumus, Sedat

2012-01-01

Research in comparative and international education indicates that the quality of education, as measured by standardized tests, and the level of educational attainment have a significant impact on individual earning and national economic growth. However, the relationship between the quality of education and the level of educational attainment has…

Educational Attainment Influences Levels of Homozygosity through Migration and Assortative Mating

PubMed Central

Abdellaoui, Abdel; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Willemsen, Gonneke; Bartels, Meike; van Beijsterveldt, Toos; Ehli, Erik A.; Davies, Gareth E.; Brooks, Andrew; Sullivan, Patrick F.; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; de Geus, Eco J.; Boomsma, Dorret I.

2015-01-01

Individuals with a higher education are more likely to migrate, increasing the chance of meeting a spouse with a different ancestral background. In this context, the presence of strong educational assortment can result in greater ancestry differences within more educated spouse pairs, while less educated individuals are more likely to mate with someone with whom they share more ancestry. We examined the association between educational attainment and F roh (= the proportion of the genome consisting of runs of homozygosity [ROHs]) in ~2,000 subjects of Dutch ancestry. The subjects’ own educational attainment showed a nominally significant negative association with F roh (p = .045), while the contribution of parental education to offspring F roh was highly significant (father: p < 10-5; mother: p = 9×10-5), with more educated parents having offspring with fewer ROHs. This association was significantly and fully mediated by the physical distance between parental birthplaces (paternal education: p mediation = 2.4 × 10-4; maternal education: p mediation = 2.3 × 10-4), which itself was also significantly associated with F roh (p = 9 × 10-5). Ancestry-informative principal components from the offspring showed a significantly decreasing association with geography as parental education increased, consistent with the significantly higher migration rates among more educated parents. Parental education also showed a high spouse correlation (Spearman’s ρ = .66, p = 3 × 10-262). We show that less educated parents are less likely to mate with the more mobile parents with a higher education, creating systematic differences in homozygosity due to ancestry differences not directly captured by ancestry-informative principal components (PCs). Understanding how behaviors influence the genomic structure of a population is highly valuable for studies on the genetic etiology of behavioral, cognitive, and social traits. PMID:25734509

Educational attainment influences levels of homozygosity through migration and assortative mating.

PubMed

Abdellaoui, Abdel; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Willemsen, Gonneke; Bartels, Meike; van Beijsterveldt, Toos; Ehli, Erik A; Davies, Gareth E; Brooks, Andrew; Sullivan, Patrick F; Penninx, Brenda W J H; de Geus, Eco J; Boomsma, Dorret I

2015-01-01

Individuals with a higher education are more likely to migrate, increasing the chance of meeting a spouse with a different ancestral background. In this context, the presence of strong educational assortment can result in greater ancestry differences within more educated spouse pairs, while less educated individuals are more likely to mate with someone with whom they share more ancestry. We examined the association between educational attainment and F roh (= the proportion of the genome consisting of runs of homozygosity [ROHs]) in ~2,000 subjects of Dutch ancestry. The subjects' own educational attainment showed a nominally significant negative association with F roh (p = .045), while the contribution of parental education to offspring F roh was highly significant (father: p < 10(-5); mother: p = 9 × 10(-5)), with more educated parents having offspring with fewer ROHs. This association was significantly and fully mediated by the physical distance between parental birthplaces (paternal education: pmediation = 2.4 × 10(-4); maternal education: pmediation = 2.3 × 10(-4)), which itself was also significantly associated with F roh (p = 9 × 10(-5)). Ancestry-informative principal components from the offspring showed a significantly decreasing association with geography as parental education increased, consistent with the significantly higher migration rates among more educated parents. Parental education also showed a high spouse correlation (Spearman's ρ = .66, p = 3 × 10(-262)). We show that less educated parents are less likely to mate with the more mobile parents with a higher education, creating systematic differences in homozygosity due to ancestry differences not directly captured by ancestry-informative principal components (PCs). Understanding how behaviors influence the genomic structure of a population is highly valuable for studies on the genetic etiology of behavioral, cognitive, and social traits.

How Economic Segregation Affects Childrens' Educational Attainment. JCPR Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayer, Susan

Economic segregation increased in the United States between 1970 and 1990. Three hypotheses suggest that this would affect low-income children's educational attainment. The political economy of school funding predicts that economically segregated school districts reduce the educational attainment of low-income children. Two other hypotheses…

Personality and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: Evidence from Germany.

PubMed

Ryberg, Renee; Bauldry, Shawn; Schultz, Michael A; Steinhoff, Annekatrin; Shanahan, Michael

2017-10-01

Research based in the United States, with its relatively open educational system, has found that personality mediates the relationship between parents' and child's educational attainment and this mediational pattern is especially beneficial to students from less-educated households. Yet in highly structured, competitive educational systems, personality characteristics may not predict attainment or may be more or less consequential at different points in the educational career. We examine the salience of personality in the educational attainment process in the German educational system. Data come from a longitudinal sample of 682 17 to 25 year-olds (54% female) from the 2005 and 2015 German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Results show that adolescent personality traits-openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness-are associated with educational attainment, but personality plays a negligible role in the intergenerational transmission of education. Personality is influential before the decision about the type of secondary degree that a student will pursue (during adolescence). After that turning point, when students have entered different pathways through the system, personality is less salient. Cross-national comparisons in a life course framework broaden the scope of current research on non-cognitive skills and processes of socioeconomic attainment, alerting the analyst to the importance of both institutional structures and the changing importance of these skills at different points in the life course.

Personality and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: Evidence from Germany

PubMed Central

Ryberg, Renee; Bauldry, Shawn; Schultz, Michael A.; Steinhoff, Annekatrin; Shanahan, Michael

2018-01-01

Research based in the United States, with its relatively open educational system, has found that personality mediates the relationship between parents’ and child’s educational attainment and this meditational pattern is especially beneficial to students from less-educated households. Yet in highly structured, competitive educational systems, personal characteristics may not predict attainment or may be more or less consequential at different points in the educational career. We examine the salience of personality in the educational attainment process in the German educational system. Data come from a longitudinal sample of 682 seventeen to twenty-five year-olds (54% female) from the 2005 and 2015 German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Results show that adolescent personality traits — openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness — are associated with educational attainment, but personality plays a negligible role in the intergenerational transmission of education. Personality is influential before the decision about the type of secondary degree that a student will pursue (during adolescence). After that turning point, when students have entered different pathways through the system, personality is less salient. Cross-national comparisons in a life course framework broaden the scope of current research on non-cognitive skills and processes of socioeconomic attainment, alerting the analyst to the importance of both institutional structures and the changing importance of these skills at different points in the life course. PMID:28707154

Genetic and Environmental Transactions Underlying Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Wendy; Deary, Ian J.; Iacono, William G.

2009-01-01

This report used a population-representative longitudinal twin study with two birth cohorts to explore the association between intelligence and education by understanding how genetic and environmental influences on intelligence moderate genetic and environmental influences on school grades and educational attainment. Nonshared environmental…

Social Status, Cognitive Ability, and Educational Attainment as Predictors of Liberal Social Attitudes and Political Trust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoon, Ingrid; Cheng, Helen; Gale, Catharine R.; Batty, G. David; Deary, Ian J.

2010-01-01

We examined the prospective associations between family socio-economic background, childhood intelligence ("g") at age 11, educational and occupational attainment, and social attitudes at age 33 in a large (N = 8804), representative sample of the British population born in 1958. Structural equation Modeling identified a latent trait of…

Unpacking acculturation: cultural orientations and educational attainment among Mexican-origin youth.

PubMed

Roche, Kathleen M; Ghazarian, Sharon R; Fernandez-Esquer, Maria Eugenia

2012-07-01

Given educational risks facing Mexican-origin children of immigrant parents, it is important to understand how aspects of the acculturation process influence Mexican-origin youth's educational success. Drawing from selective assimilation theory, this study examined how cultural orientations across myriad facets of acculturation were associated with the educational attainment of second-generation Mexican immigrant youth. The sample included 755 Mexican-origin youth (50% female) in the "Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study." Results from structural equation models indicated that youth reporting greater facility in the English language and a stronger value on familism attained higher levels of education in young adulthood than did other youth. Parents' U.S. social ties and youth's value on early paid work were associated with less educational attainment. Innovative findings from this study indicate the importance of considering both Mexican and American cultural orientations across myriad facets of acculturation for understanding second-generation immigrant Mexican youth's educational attainment.

Educational Attainment: Analysis by Immigrant Generation. IZA Discussion Paper Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiswick, Barry R.; DebBurman, Noyna

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the largely ignored issue of the determinants of the educational attainment of adults by immigrant generation. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data, differences in educational attainment are analyzed by immigrant generation (first, second, and higher order generations), and among…

Reaching smokers with lower educational attainment.

PubMed

Millar, W J

1996-01-01

Between 1977 and 1994, smoking rates declined among men and women, but the decline was steeper for men. While smoking rates fell among people at all levels of education, the smallest drop was among those with high school graduation or less, particularly women. For those who had stopped smoking, health concerns had been the overriding factor. Smokers with lower education reported encountering fewer smoking restrictions in their daily activities than did those with higher education. All smokers cited the mass media as their major source of information about smoking, but those with lower education reported the mass media less often than did smokers with higher levels of attainment, and were less likely to obtain information from books, pamphlets or magazines. In addition, smaller percentages of smokers with lower education recalled printed warnings about heart disease on cigarette packages. Variations in the decline of smoking suggest that health promotion and smoking cessation programs should consider sex and educational differences when targeting the smoking population. Differences in rates of smoking among people aged 20 and over were examined by educational attainment using selected health surveys conducted between 1977 and 1994. A Health Canada-sponsored supplement to Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey was used for data on other aspects of smoking such as cutting back or attempting to quit, sources of health information, and awareness of smoking restrictions and cigarette package warnings.

Influence of height on attained level of education in males at 19 years of age.

PubMed

Szklarska, Alicja; Kozieł, Sławomir; Bielicki, Tadeusz; Malina, Robert M

2007-07-01

In this study it is hypothesized that taller individuals are more likely to move up the scale of educational attainment compared with shorter individuals from the same social background. Three national cohorts of 19-year-old males were considered: 29,464 born in 1967 and surveyed in 1986, 31,062 born in 1976 and surveyed in 1995, and 30,851 born in 1982 and surveyed in 2001. Four social variables were used to describe the social background of each conscript in the three surveys: degree of urbanization, family size, and parental and maternal educational status. The educational status of each conscript was classified into two groups: (1) those who were secondary school students or graduates, or who had entered college, and (2) those who had completed their education at the primary school level or who had gone to a basic trade school. Multiple binomial logistic regressions were used to estimate the relative risk of achieving higher educational status by 19-year-old males relative to height and the four social factors. Consistently across the three cohorts the odd ratios (ORs) indicate that height exerts an independent and significant effect on the attained level of education at the age of 19 years in males (1986: OR=1.24, p<0.001; 1995: OR=1.24, p <0.001; 2001: OR=1.20, p<0.001). Two possible, not mutually exclusive, selective mechanisms are postulated and discussed: 'passive' and 'active' action.

Gender Differences in Educational Attainment: Influences of the Family Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mensah, Fiona K.; Kiernan, Kathleen E.

2010-01-01

There are gender differences in educational attainment amongst British children and there is evidence that these differences emerge early in life. In this study we investigate whether boys' and girls' early educational attainment levels are similarly related to disadvantage in the family environment. This study uses survey data from the Millennium…

Educational Attainment: Understanding the Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baum, Sandy; Cunningham, Alisa; Tanenbaum, Courtney

2015-01-01

The level of educational attainment in the United States is a central focus of public policy. The Obama administration, some states, large national foundations, and other organizations have set near-term goals to increase the number of Americans with college degrees. Achieving these goals is likely to involve a combination of increasing…

Interpreting Community Effects on Youth Educational Attainment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

South, Scott J.; Baumer, Eric P.; Lutz, Amy

2003-01-01

Used longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children to examine factors explaining the higher school dropout and lower high school graduation rates in socioeconomically distressed communities. Results suggest that educational performance of peers is a key mechanism linking neighborhood disadvantage to youth educational attainment. Some of…

Educational Attainment and HIV/AIDS Prevalence: A Cross-Country Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lakhanpal, Manisha; Ram, Rati

2008-01-01

Using data for a large cross-country sample, a reasonable model is estimated to judge the effect of adult educational attainment on prevalence of HIV. Three main points are noted. First, there is an indication of a significantly negative effect of educational attainment on HIV prevalence. Second, magnitude of the impact appears sizable. Third, a…

Does Alcohol Use during High School Affect Educational Attainment?: Evidence from the National Education Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chatterji, Pinka

2006-01-01

This paper uses data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to estimate the association between high school alcohol use and educational attainment measured around age 26. Initially, the effect of alcohol use on educational attainment is estimated using baseline probit models, which ignore the possibility that unmeasured determinants of…

A sequence variant associating with educational attainment also affects childhood cognition.

PubMed

Gunnarsson, Bjarni; Jónsdóttir, Guðrún A; Björnsdóttir, Gyða; Konte, Bettina; Sulem, Patrick; Kristmundsdóttir, Snædís; Kehr, Birte; Gústafsson, Ómar; Helgason, Hannes; Iordache, Paul D; Ólafsson, Sigurgeir; Frigge, Michael L; Þorleifsson, Guðmar; Arnarsdóttir, Sunna; Stefánsdóttir, Berglind; Giegling, Ina; Djurovic, Srdjan; Sundet, Kjetil S; Espeseth, Thomas; Melle, Ingrid; Hartmann, Annette M; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Kong, Augustine; Guðbjartsson, Daníel F; Ettinger, Ulrich; Andreassen, Ole A; Dan Rujescu; Halldórsson, Jónas G; Stefánsson, Hreinn; Halldórsson, Bjarni V; Stefánsson, Kári

2016-11-04

Only a few common variants in the sequence of the genome have been shown to impact cognitive traits. Here we demonstrate that polygenic scores of educational attainment predict specific aspects of childhood cognition, as measured with IQ. Recently, three sequence variants were shown to associate with educational attainment, a confluence phenotype of genetic and environmental factors contributing to academic success. We show that one of these variants associating with educational attainment, rs4851266-T, also associates with Verbal IQ in dyslexic children (P = 4.3 × 10 -4 , β = 0.16 s.d.). The effect of 0.16 s.d. corresponds to 1.4 IQ points for heterozygotes and 2.8 IQ points for homozygotes. We verified this association in independent samples consisting of adults (P = 8.3 × 10 -5 , β = 0.12 s.d., combined P = 2.2 x 10 -7 , β = 0.14 s.d.). Childhood cognition is unlikely to be affected by education attained later in life, and the variant explains a greater fraction of the variance in verbal IQ than in educational attainment (0.7% vs 0.12%,. P = 1.0 × 10 -5 ).

The Intergenerational Effects of Changes in Women's Educational Attainments

PubMed Central

Mare, Robert D.; Maralani, Vida

2015-01-01

The effect of the socioeconomic characteristics in one generation on the socioeconomic achievement of the next generation is the central concern of social stratification research. Researchers typically address this issue by analyzing the associations between the characteristics of parents and offspring. This approach, however, focuses on observed parent–offspring pairs and ignores that changes in the socioeconomic characteristics of one generation may alter the numbers and types of intergenerational family relationships created in the next one. Models of intergenerational effects that include marriage and fertility as well as the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status yield a richer account of intergenerational effects at both the family and population levels. When applied to a large sample of Indonesian women and their families, these models show that the effects of women's educational attainment on the educational attainments of the next generation are positive. However, the beneficial effects of increases in women's schooling on the educational attainment of their children are partially offset at the population level by a reduction in the overall number of children that a more educated population of women bears and enhanced by the more favorable marriage partners of better educated women. PMID:25843957

Educational attainment moderates the associations of diabetes education with health outcomes.

PubMed

Kim, Su Hyun

2016-10-01

Diabetes education is a critical element of care for people with diabetes. However, the associations between diabetes education and self-care or health outcomes have not been clearly demonstrated at a national level. The aims of this study were to examine the associations of attendance of diabetes education classes with health behaviours and glycaemic control, and to understand whether these associations were moderated by level of educational attainment. Data were analysed for 456 adults from the 2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V, collected from January 2010 to December 2012. No significant differences were observed between patients who had attended diabetes education classes and those who had never attended for factors such as smoking, drinking, exercise, nutrition therapy or glycaemic control. There was a significant interaction effect between receiving diabetes education and level of educational attainment on obtaining optimal glycaemic control. Attending diabetes education was positively associated with optimal glycaemic control among patients with more than a high school education but was negatively associated with it among those with less than middle school education. Diabetes education programmes need to be tailored to the needs and cognitive capacities of the target population. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

The Association Between Educational Attainment and Diabetes Among Men in the United States

PubMed Central

Whitaker, Shanta M.; Bowie, Janice V.; McCleary, Rachael; Gaskin, Darrell J.; LaVeist, Thomas A.; Thorpe, Roland J.

2015-01-01

Few studies have examined the relationship between education and diabetes among men in the United States and whether this relationship differs by race/ethnicity. This study examined whether racial disparities in diabetes existed by educational attainment in 336,746 non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic men 18 years of age and older in the United States. Logistic regression models were specified to examine the odds of reporting diabetes by educational attainment. Within race/ethnicity, both White and Hispanic men who had less than a high school education (odds ratio [OR] = 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.19, 1.69], and OR = 1.64, 95% CI = [1.22, 2.21], respectively) had consistently higher odds of diabetes than men with a bachelor’s degree or higher level of educational attainment. Educational attainment did not appear to be associated with reporting a diagnosis of diabetes in non-Hispanic Black men. Identifying why educational attainment is associated with diabetes outcomes in some racial/ethnic groups but not others is essential for diabetes treatment and management. PMID:24429135

Assessment of adolescents' motivation for educational attainment.

PubMed

Cham, Heining; Hughes, Jan N; West, Stephen G; Im, Myung Hee

2014-06-01

The Adolescent Motivation for Educational Attainment Questionnaire is a 32-item questionnaire (we drew 20 items from 3 subscales of the Educational Motivation Questionnaire; Murdock, 1999) that was developed to measure multiple potential dimensions of adolescents' motivation to complete high school and enroll in post-secondary education, including competence and effort beliefs; perceived value of education; and peer, teacher, and parent support for educational attainment. We assessed a multiethnic sample (N = 569) of low-achieving students who started 1st grade together in 1 urban and 2 small city school districts. Participants were assessed over 2 consecutive years (Grades 8 and 9 given prior grade retention, or Grades 9 and 10 if not retained). Exploratory factor analyses identified 4 correlated dimensions underlying the questionnaire responses. Subsequent confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a bifactor model, which includes a general factor of students' basic educational motivation, and specific factors of (a) teacher educational expectations, (b) peer aspirations, and (c) value of education. Measurement invariance of the bifactor model was established across students' gender and ethnicity (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic) and year of testing. Criterion-related validity of the general and specific factors with students' school belonging, student-teacher warmth and conflict, disciplinary practices, letter grade, conduct problems, and behavioral engagement was examined. Practical implications of the measure are discussed.

Assessment of Adolescents’ Motivation for Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Cham, Heining; Hughes, Jan N.; West, Stephen G.; Im, Myung Hee

2015-01-01

The Adolescent Motivation for Educational Attainment Questionnaire is a 32-item questionnaire (we drew 20 items from 3 subscales of the Educational Motivation Questionnaire; Murdock, 1999) that was developed to measure multiple potential dimensions of adolescents’ motivation to complete high school and enroll in post-secondary education, including competence and effort beliefs; perceived value of education; and peer, teacher, and parent support for educational attainment. We assessed a multiethnic sample (N = 569) of low-achieving students who started 1st grade together in 1 urban and 2 small city school districts. Participants were assessed over 2 consecutive years (Grades 8 and 9 given prior grade retention, or Grades 9 and 10 if not retained). Exploratory factor analyses identified 4 correlated dimensions underlying the questionnaire responses. Subsequent confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a bifactor model, which includes a general factor of students’ basic educational motivation, and specific factors of (a) teacher educational expectations, (b) peer aspirations, and (c) value of education. Measurement invariance of the bifactor model was established across students’ gender and ethnicity (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic) and year of testing. Criterion-related validity of the general and specific factors with students’ school belonging, student–teacher warmth and conflict, disciplinary practices, letter grade, conduct problems, and behavioral engagement was examined. Practical implications of the measure are discussed. PMID:24588748

Intergenerational Social Mobility and Mid-Life Status Attainment: Influences of Childhood Intelligence, Childhood Social Factors, and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deary, Ian J.; Taylor, Michelle D.; Hart, Carole L.; Wilson, Valerie; Smith, George Davey; Blane, David; Starr, John M.

2005-01-01

We examined the influences of childhood social background, childhood cognitive ability, and education on intergenerational social mobility and social status attainment at midlife. The subjects were men born in 1921 and who participated in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932 and thereafter in the Midspan Collaborative study in Scotland between 1970…

Educational Attainment: A Model for Maximizing Earnings of the Nontraditional Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffith, Andrew S.

2011-01-01

This article documents a model for forecasting earnings of the nontraditional student based on macrolevel changes in educational attainment within the workforce using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It also presents a theoretical case that illustrates the value of improving one's educational attainment level in order to sustain an annualized…

Receptive language and educational attainment for sexually abused females.

PubMed

Noll, Jennie G; Shenk, Chad E; Yeh, Michele T; Ji, Juye; Putnam, Frank W; Trickett, Penelope K

2010-09-01

The objective of this study was to test whether the experience of childhood sexual abuse is associated with long-term receptive language acquisition and educational attainment deficits for females. Females with substantiated familial childhood sexual abuse (n=84) and a nonabused comparison group (n=102) were followed prospectively for 18 years. Receptive language ability was assessed at 6 time points across distinct stages of development, including childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Rates of high school graduation and total educational attainment were assessed during young adulthood. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that receptive language did not differ between the groups at the initial assessment point in childhood; however, a significant group by time interaction was observed across development with abused females (1) acquiring receptive language at a significantly slower rate throughout development and (2) achieving a lower overall maximum level of proficiency. Significant differences in receptive language scores emerged as early as midadolescence. In addition, abused females reported significantly lower rates of high school graduation and lower overall educational attainment when compared with their nonabused peers. Exposure to childhood sexual abuse may be a significant risk factor for cognitive performance and achievement deficits for victims. These findings have particular public health relevance given the high prevalence of sexual abuse and that poor cognitive functioning and low levels of educational attainment can contribute to continued adversity throughout the life course. Early intervention may assist victims in improving cognitive functioning, altering deleterious trajectories, and promoting greater life successes.

Social Origins and Attitudinal Effects on Educational Status Attainment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, John K.; And Others

Research objectives were to present and analyze a causal model of educational attainment and to include with parental socioeconomic status the number of siblings as an intervening social origin variable impacting on attitudes and attainment. Data were obtained from a three-wave longitudinal study (1966, 1968, and 1972) of 221 white nonmetropolitan…

Sex, Class, and Physical Science Educational Attainment: Portions due to Achievement Versus Recruitment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simon, Richard M.; Farkas, George

Nationally representative data from the National Education Longitudinal Study are used to investigate why males (rather than females) and children of parents with advanced degrees (rather than those from less-educated parents) are more highly represented among physical science bachelor's degrees and graduate students. Parental education is measured by three categories: neither parent has a bachelor's degree, at least one parent has a bachelor's degree, or at least one parent has a degree beyond the bachelor's. Physical science is defined as students majoring in physics, engineering, mathematics, or computer science. The effects of mathematics achievement and effects not accounted for by mathematics achievement (what the authors call "recruitment" effects) are isolated for parental education categories and for sex, allowing inequality in physical science degree attainment to be decomposed into portions due to achievement and portions due to recruitment. Additionally, the results from logistic regressions predicting the attainment of a bachelor's degree in physical science as well as the pursuit of a graduate degree in physical science are presented. It is found that for parental education categories, the gaps in physical science educational attainment are nearly entirely accounted for by differences in mathematics achievement, suggesting that if achievement could be equalized, physical science educational attainment differences among parental education categories would disappear. However, the sex gap in physical science educational attainment operates almost entirely independent of achievement effects, suggesting that if the mathematics achievement distributions of males and females were identical, the sex gap in physical science educational attainment would be unchanged from what it is today.

Community & Technical College Share of Washington's Educational Attainment Goals for 2023

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, 2015

2015-01-01

In 2013, the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) set a 10 year plan for improving the educational attainment of Washington residents. The Roadmap included two educational attainment goals for 2023: (1) All adults in Washington, ages 25-44, will have a high school diploma or equivalent; and (2) At least 70 percent of Washington adults,…

Educational Engagement and Degree Attainment among High School Dropouts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suh, Suhyun; Suh, Jingyo

2006-01-01

This research investigates the relationship between educational engagement and high school degree attainment among school dropouts. Educational engagement considered in this article focuses on student factors such as educational aspiration, organizational skills, and locus of control. Findings of this study show that self-concept engagement…

Educational Attainment and Gestational Weight Gain among U.S. Mothers.

PubMed

Cohen, Alison K; Kazi, Chandni; Headen, Irene; Rehkopf, David H; Hendrick, C Emily; Patil, Divya; Abrams, Barbara

2016-01-01

Education is an important social determinant of many health outcomes, but the relationship between educational attainment and the amount of weight gained over the course of a woman's pregnancy (gestational weight gain [GWG]) has not been established clearly. We used data from 1979 through 2010 for women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979) cohort (n = 6,344 pregnancies from 2,769 women). We used generalized estimating equations to estimate the association between educational attainment and GWG adequacy (as defined by 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines), controlling for diverse social factors from across the life course (e.g., income, wealth, educational aspirations and expectations) and considering effect measure modification by race/ethnicity and prepregnancy overweight status. In most cases, women with more education had increased odds of gaining a recommended amount of gestational weight, independent of educational aspirations and educational expectations and relatively robust to sensitivity analyses. This trend manifested itself in a few different ways. Those with less education had higher odds of inadequate GWG than those with more education. Among those who were not overweight before pregnancy, those with less education had higher odds of excessive GWG than college graduates. Among women who were White, those with less than a high school degree had higher odds of excessive GWG than those with more education. The relationship between educational attainment and GWG is nuanced and nonlinear. Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sibling Composition and Child Educational Attainment: Evidence from Native Amazonians in Bolivia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeng, Wu; Undurraga, Eduardo A.; Eisenberg, Dan T. A.; Rubio-Jovel, Karla; Reyes-Garcia; Victoria; Godoy, Ricardo

2012-01-01

Evidence from industrial nations suggests that sibling composition is associated with children's educational attainment, particularly if parents face resource constraints. If sibling composition is associated with educational attainment, then those associations should be stronger in poor societies of developing nations. We use data from a…

Intergenerational transmission of educational attainment: Three levels of parent-child communication as mediators.

PubMed

Chi, Liping

2013-04-01

Although the intergenerational transmission of educational attainment has been confirmed by many researchers, its mechanism still remains controversial. Parent-child communication has been regarded as one of the important mediators. The present study primarily aimed to examine the potentially mediating role of parent-child communication in the transmission of educational attainment, based on a sample of 366 Chinese fifth and sixth graders. Parent-child communication was measured against the three levels of the parents' communication ability, the quality of the father-child and mother-child communications, and the relation between the two dyadic communications. The results duplicated the positive effect of parents' educational attainment on children's academic achievement. Moreover, it was found that parents' communication ability alone played a mediating role, and that the three levels of parent-child communication constructed a "mediator chain" between the parents' educational attainment and the children's academic achievement. Finally, the intergenerational transmission of educational attainment in China and the mediating role of the three levels of parent-child communication were discussed. © 2012 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Biological and Sociocultural Factors During the School Years Predicting Women's Lifetime Educational Attainment.

PubMed

Hendrick, C Emily; Cohen, Alison K; Deardorff, Julianna; Cance, Jessica D

2016-03-01

Lifetime educational attainment is an important predictor of health and well-being for women in the United States. In this study, we examine the roles of sociocultural factors in youth and an understudied biological life event, pubertal timing, in predicting women's lifetime educational attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N = 3889), we conducted sequential multivariate linear regression analyses to investigate the influences of macro-level and family-level sociocultural contextual factors in youth (region of country, urbanicity, race/ethnicity, year of birth, household composition, mother's education, and mother's age at first birth) and early menarche, a marker of early pubertal development, on women's educational attainment after age 24. Pubertal timing and all sociocultural factors in youth, other than year of birth, predicted women's lifetime educational attainment in bivariate models. Family factors had the strongest associations. When family factors were added to multivariate models, geographic region in youth, and pubertal timing were no longer significant. Our findings provide additional evidence that family factors should be considered when developing comprehensive and inclusive interventions in childhood and adolescence to promote lifetime educational attainment among girls. © 2016, American School Health Association.

Level of Educational Attainment Among Deaf Adults Who Attended Bilingual-Bicultural Programs.

PubMed

Dammeyer, Jesper; Marschark, Marc

2016-10-01

In Scandinavia and some other countries, a bilingual-bicultural approach to deaf education was celebrated in national programs from the mid-1980s until the broad popularity of cochlear implantation in middle 2000s created a shift back to an emphasis on spoken language for many deaf children. At the same time, only a few studies evaluated the long-term outcomes of bilingual-bicultural education, and several of their findings have raised questions about benefits of the approach. This study examined the level of educational attainment of 408 deaf individuals who attended primary school either before or during the period of bilingual-bicultural education in Denmark, both relative to a comparable hearing cohort. Beyond group comparisons, three logistic regression models were created to evaluate the prediction of educational attainment by a number of relevant variables. Compared to the hearing population, the deaf population had a significantly lower level of educational attainment both before and after the introduction of bilingual-bicultural education. Signed language and spoken language abilities, the kind of school attended, degree of hearing loss, parental hearing loss, and gender were found significantly to explain levels of educational attainment in the deaf population. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Differing effects of education on cognitive decline in diverse elders with low versus high educational attainment.

PubMed

Zahodne, Laura B; Stern, Yaakov; Manly, Jennifer J

2015-07-01

In light of growing debate over whether and how early life educational experiences alter late-life cognitive trajectories, this study sought to more thoroughly investigate the relationship between educational attainment and rates of late-life cognitive decline in a racially, ethnically, and educationally diverse population. Older adults (N = 3,435) in the community-based Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project were administered neuropsychological tests of memory, language, visuospatial function, and processing speed at approximate 24-month intervals for up to 18 years. Second-order latent growth curves estimated direct and indirect (through income) effects of educational attainment on rates of global cognitive decline separately in individuals with low (0-8 years) and high (9-20 years) educational attainment. More years of education were associated with higher cognitive level and slower cognitive decline in individuals with low or high educational attainment. The association between having more than 9 years of education and exhibiting slower cognitive decline was fully mediated by income. Although having additional years of education up to 8 years was also associated with higher income, this did not explain associations between education and cognitive change in the low-education group. Early education (i.e., up to 8 years) may promote aspects of development during a sensitive period of childhood that protect against late-life cognitive decline independent of income. In contrast, later education (i.e., 9 years and beyond) is associated with higher income, which may influence late-life cognitive health through multiple, nonmutually exclusive pathways. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Differing effects of education on cognitive decline in diverse elders with low versus high educational attainment

PubMed Central

Zahodne, Laura B.; Stern, Yaakov; Manly, Jennifer J.

2014-01-01

Objective In light of growing debate over whether and how early-life educational experiences alter late-life cognitive trajectories, this study sought to more thoroughly investigate the relationship between educational attainment and rates of late-life cognitive decline in a racially, ethnically, and educationally diverse population. Method 3,435 older adults in the community-based Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project were administered neuropsychological tests of memory, language, visuospatial function, and processing speed at approximate 24-month intervals for up to 18 years. Second-order latent growth curves estimated direct and indirect (through income) effects of educational attainment on rates of global cognitive decline separately in individuals with low (0-8 years) and high (9-20 years) educational attainment. Results More years of education was associated with higher cognitive level and slower cognitive decline in individuals with low or high educational attainment. The association between having more than 9 years of education and exhibiting slower cognitive decline was fully mediated by income. While additional years of education up to 8 years was also associated with higher income, this did not explain associations between education and cognitive change in the low-education group. Conclusions Early education (i.e., up to 8 years) may promote aspects of development during a sensitive period of childhood that protect against late-life cognitive decline independent of income. In contrast, later education (i.e., beyond 9 years) is associated with higher income, which may influence late-life cognitive health through multiple, non-mutually exclusive pathways. PMID:25222199

Attaining Success for Beginning Special Education Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCabe, Marjorie; And Others

1993-01-01

Three case studies are presented that highlight problem scenarios relating to beginning special education intern teachers and explain how the teachers attained success. The cases focus on classroom management, adaptation of the core curriculum, and knowledge of instructional practices. (JDD)

The interaction of family background and personal education on depressive symptoms in later life.

PubMed

Schaan, Barbara

2014-02-01

This study assesses the interaction between personal education and family background during childhood on depressive symptoms in later life by applying Ross & Mirowsky's resource substitution and structural amplification theory of health and education. OLS regression models are estimated using data from the "Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe" (SHARE), which covers information on current social and health status as well as retrospective life histories from 20,716 respondents aged 50 or older from thirteen European countries. Higher education helps to overcome the negative consequences of a poor family background. Since people from poor families are less likely to attain higher educational levels, they lack exactly the resource they need in order to overcome the negative consequences their non-prosperous background has on depressive symptoms. Thus, low family background and low personal education amplify each other. Examining the processes described by theory of resource substitution and structural amplification over different age groups from midlife to old-age suggests that the moderating effect of education remains constant over age among people coming from a poor family background. However, there is some evidence for a decrease with age in the buffering effect of a well-off family background on depressive symptoms among the low educated group. Furthermore, the educational gap in depression diverges with age among individuals originating from a well-off family background. Taken together the results cautiously allude to the conclusion that three processes - cumulative (dis-)advantage, age-as-leveler, and persistent inequalities - might take place. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Myopia and educational attainment in 421,116 young Singaporean males.

PubMed

Tay, M T; Au Eong, K G; Ng, C Y; Lim, M K

1992-11-01

Data of 421,116 Singaporean males aged 15 to 25 (mean 17.75) years who underwent compulsory medical examination in 1974-84 and 1987-91 were used to estimate the prevalence of myopia and to study the correlation between the prevalence and severity of myopia and educational attainment. The estimated myopia prevalence rate was 26.3% in 1974-84 and 43.3% in 1987-91. This rise in the rate was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of males who achieved higher levels of education over the same period. The overall myopia prevalence rate was 30.4%. Both the prevalence and severity of myopia were higher as the level of education attained increased. The myopia prevalence rate was 15.4% in males with no formal education and increased steadily through groups with intermediate education to 65.2% among those with GCE 'A' level education, 57.5% among diploma holders and 65.1% among university graduates in 1987-91. Seventy out of 173 (40%) myopes with no formal education compared to 1035 out of 1612 (64%) myopes with university degrees had unaided visual acuity worse than 6/60 in 1987-91. Our findings confirm indications from other sources that the association between the prevalence and severity of myopia and education attainment is real. A combination of genetic and environmental factors may be the cause of this association.

The role of mentor type and timing in predicting educational attainment.

PubMed

Fruiht, Veronica M; Wray-Lake, Laura

2013-09-01

Having an adult mentor during adolescence has been found to predict academic success. Building on previous work, the present study examined interactions between the type of mentor (i.e., kin, teacher, friend, or community), the time that mentor became important (i.e., before, during, or after high school), and the ethnicity of the protégé in predicting educational attainment in young adulthood. Analyses used Waves III and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 2,409). Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 27 (M = 21.75, SD = 1.79). The sample was 56.7 % female and nationally representative of ethnic diversity. Analyses showed that having a teacher-mentor was more predictive of educational attainment than having other types of mentors and that overall, having a mentor after high school predicts the most educational attainment. Kin- and community-mentors appeared to be more important to educational attainment during and before high school, respectively. Findings were consistent across ethnic groups. Overall, results highlight the value of teacher-mentors throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood and our study further suggests that different types of mentors may be particularly useful at specific points in development.

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment.

PubMed

Okbay, Aysu; Beauchamp, Jonathan P; Fontana, Mark Alan; Lee, James J; Pers, Tune H; Rietveld, Cornelius A; Turley, Patrick; Chen, Guo-Bo; Emilsson, Valur; Meddens, S Fleur W; Oskarsson, Sven; Pickrell, Joseph K; Thom, Kevin; Timshel, Pascal; de Vlaming, Ronald; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S; Bacelis, Jonas; Baumbach, Clemens; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Brandsma, Johannes H; Pina Concas, Maria; Derringer, Jaime; Furlotte, Nicholas A; Galesloot, Tessel E; Girotto, Giorgia; Gupta, Richa; Hall, Leanne M; Harris, Sarah E; Hofer, Edith; Horikoshi, Momoko; Huffman, Jennifer E; Kaasik, Kadri; Kalafati, Ioanna P; Karlsson, Robert; Kong, Augustine; Lahti, Jari; van der Lee, Sven J; deLeeuw, Christiaan; Lind, Penelope A; Lindgren, Karl-Oskar; Liu, Tian; Mangino, Massimo; Marten, Jonathan; Mihailov, Evelin; Miller, Michael B; van der Most, Peter J; Oldmeadow, Christopher; Payton, Antony; Pervjakova, Natalia; Peyrot, Wouter J; Qian, Yong; Raitakari, Olli; Rueedi, Rico; Salvi, Erika; Schmidt, Börge; Schraut, Katharina E; Shi, Jianxin; Smith, Albert V; Poot, Raymond A; St Pourcain, Beate; Teumer, Alexander; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Verweij, Niek; Vuckovic, Dragana; Wellmann, Juergen; Westra, Harm-Jan; Yang, Jingyun; Zhao, Wei; Zhu, Zhihong; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z; Amin, Najaf; Bakshi, Andrew; Baumeister, Sebastian E; Biino, Ginevra; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Boyle, Patricia A; Campbell, Harry; Cappuccio, Francesco P; Davies, Gail; De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel; Deloukas, Panos; Demuth, Ilja; Ding, Jun; Eibich, Peter; Eisele, Lewin; Eklund, Niina; Evans, David M; Faul, Jessica D; Feitosa, Mary F; Forstner, Andreas J; Gandin, Ilaria; Gunnarsson, Bjarni; Halldórsson, Bjarni V; Harris, Tamara B; Heath, Andrew C; Hocking, Lynne J; Holliday, Elizabeth G; Homuth, Georg; Horan, Michael A; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; de Jager, Philip L; Joshi, Peter K; Jugessur, Astanand; Kaakinen, Marika A; Kähönen, Mika; Kanoni, Stavroula; Keltigangas-Järvinen, Liisa; Kiemeney, Lambertus A L M; Kolcic, Ivana; Koskinen, Seppo; Kraja, Aldi T; Kroh, Martin; Kutalik, Zoltan; Latvala, Antti; Launer, Lenore J; Lebreton, Maël P; Levinson, Douglas F; Lichtenstein, Paul; Lichtner, Peter; Liewald, David C M; Loukola, Anu; Madden, Pamela A; Mägi, Reedik; Mäki-Opas, Tomi; Marioni, Riccardo E; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Meddens, Gerardus A; McMahon, George; Meisinger, Christa; Meitinger, Thomas; Milaneschi, Yusplitri; Milani, Lili; Montgomery, Grant W; Myhre, Ronny; Nelson, Christopher P; Nyholt, Dale R; Ollier, William E R; Palotie, Aarno; Paternoster, Lavinia; Pedersen, Nancy L; Petrovic, Katja E; Porteous, David J; Räikkönen, Katri; Ring, Susan M; Robino, Antonietta; Rostapshova, Olga; Rudan, Igor; Rustichini, Aldo; Salomaa, Veikko; Sanders, Alan R; Sarin, Antti-Pekka; Schmidt, Helena; Scott, Rodney J; Smith, Blair H; Smith, Jennifer A; Staessen, Jan A; Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth; Strauch, Konstantin; Terracciano, Antonio; Tobin, Martin D; Ulivi, Sheila; Vaccargiu, Simona; Quaye, Lydia; van Rooij, Frank J A; Venturini, Cristina; Vinkhuyzen, Anna A E; Völker, Uwe; Völzke, Henry; Vonk, Judith M; Vozzi, Diego; Waage, Johannes; Ware, Erin B; Willemsen, Gonneke; Attia, John R; Bennett, David A; Berger, Klaus; Bertram, Lars; Bisgaard, Hans; Boomsma, Dorret I; Borecki, Ingrid B; Bültmann, Ute; Chabris, Christopher F; Cucca, Francesco; Cusi, Daniele; Deary, Ian J; Dedoussis, George V; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Eriksson, Johan G; Franke, Barbara; Franke, Lude; Gasparini, Paolo; Gejman, Pablo V; Gieger, Christian; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Gratten, Jacob; Groenen, Patrick J F; Gudnason, Vilmundur; van der Harst, Pim; Hayward, Caroline; Hinds, David A; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hyppönen, Elina; Iacono, William G; Jacobsson, Bo; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kardia, Sharon L R; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lehrer, Steven F; Magnusson, Patrik K E; Martin, Nicholas G; McGue, Matt; Metspalu, Andres; Pendleton, Neil; Penninx, Brenda W J H; Perola, Markus; Pirastu, Nicola; Pirastu, Mario; Polasek, Ozren; Posthuma, Danielle; Power, Christine; Province, Michael A; Samani, Nilesh J; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Reinhold; Sørensen, Thorkild I A; Spector, Tim D; Stefansson, Kari; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thurik, A Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J; Tiemeier, Henning; Tung, Joyce Y; Uitterlinden, André G; Vitart, Veronique; Vollenweider, Peter; Weir, David R; Wilson, James F; Wright, Alan F; Conley, Dalton C; Krueger, Robert F; Davey Smith, George; Hofman, Albert; Laibson, David I; Medland, Sarah E; Meyer, Michelle N; Yang, Jian; Johannesson, Magnus; Visscher, Peter M; Esko, Tõnu; Koellinger, Philipp D; Cesarini, David; Benjamin, Daniel J

2016-05-26

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with the number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioural phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because educational attainment is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric diseases.

Assessing the Independent Contribution of Maternal Educational Expectations to Children’s Educational Attainment in Early Adulthood: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

PubMed Central

Pingault, Jean Baptiste; Côté, Sylvana M.; Petitclerc, Amélie; Vitaro, Frank; Tremblay, Richard E.

2015-01-01

Background Parental educational expectations have been associated with children’s educational attainment in a number of long-term longitudinal studies, but whether this relationship is causal has long been debated. The aims of this prospective study were twofold: 1) test whether low maternal educational expectations contributed to failure to graduate from high school; and 2) compare the results obtained using different strategies for accounting for confounding variables (i.e. multivariate regression and propensity score matching). Methodology/Principal Findings The study sample included 1,279 participants from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children. Maternal educational expectations were assessed when the participants were aged 12 years. High school graduation – measuring educational attainment – was determined through the Quebec Ministry of Education when the participants were aged 22–23 years. Findings show that when using the most common statistical approach (i.e. multivariate regressions to adjust for a restricted set of potential confounders) the contribution of low maternal educational expectations to failure to graduate from high school was statistically significant. However, when using propensity score matching, the contribution of maternal expectations was reduced and remained statistically significant only for males. Conclusions/Significance The results of this study are consistent with the possibility that the contribution of parental expectations to educational attainment is overestimated in the available literature. This may be explained by the use of a restricted range of potential confounding variables as well as the dearth of studies using appropriate statistical techniques and study designs in order to minimize confounding. Each of these techniques and designs, including propensity score matching, has its strengths and limitations: A more comprehensive understanding of the causal role of parental expectations will stem from

Disparities in Disability by Educational Attainment Across US States.

PubMed

Montez, Jennifer Karas; Zajacova, Anna; Hayward, Mark D

2017-07-01

To examine how disparities in adult disability by educational attainment vary across US states. We used the nationally representative data of more than 6 million adults aged 45 to 89 years in the 2010-2014 American Community Survey. We defined disability as difficulty with activities of daily living. We categorized education as low (less than high school), mid (high school or some college), or high (bachelor's or higher). We estimated age-standardized disability prevalence by educational attainment and state. We assessed whether the variation in disability across states occurs primarily among low-educated adults and whether it reflects the socioeconomic resources of low-educated adults and their surrounding contexts. Disparities in disability by education vary markedly across states-from a 20 percentage point disparity in Massachusetts to a 12-point disparity in Wyoming. Disparities vary across states mainly because the prevalence of disability among low-educated adults varies across states. Personal and contextual socioeconomic resources of low-educated adults account for 29% of the variation. Efforts to reduce disparities in disability by education should consider state and local strategies that reduce poverty among low-educated adults and their surrounding contexts.

The Effect of Background Experience and an Advance Organizer on the Attainment of Certain Science Concepts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAdaragh, Mary Kathleen

This study examined the effects of an advance organizer and background experience in science on the attainment of science concepts. Ninth-grade earth science students (N=90) were given the Dubbins Earth Science Test (DEST) and a Science Background Experience Inventory (SBEI) developed by the author. They were then placed into high, medium, and low…

Educational attainment and the transition to first marriage among Japanese women.

PubMed

Raymo, James M

2003-02-01

I use data from a large nationally representative survey to examine the relationship between women's educational attainment and the timing of first marriage in Japan. The results indicate that later marriage for highly educated women primarily reflects longer enrollment in school, that university education is increasingly associated with later and less marriage, and that the trend toward later and less marriage is occurring at all levels of educational attainment. These findings are consistent, albeit weakly, with the argument that higher education should be negatively associated with marriage only in countries in which gender relations make it particularly difficult for women to balance work and family.

College for some to college for all: social background, occupational expectations, and educational expectations over time.

PubMed

Goyette, Kimberly A

2008-06-01

The educational expectations of 10th-graders have dramatically increased from 1980 to 2002. Their rise is attributable in part to the changing educational composition of students' parents and related to the educational profiles of their expected occupations. Students whose parents have gone to college are more likely to attend college themselves, and students expect occupations that are more prestigious in 2002 than in 1980. The educational requirements of particular occupation categories have risen only slightly. These analyses also reveal that educational expectations in recent cohorts are more loosely linked to social background and occupational plans than they were in 1980. The declining importance of parents' background and the decoupling of educational and occupational plans, in addition to a strong and significant effect of cohort on educational expectations, suggest that the expectation of four-year college attainment is indeed becoming the norm.

Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment.

PubMed

Kong, Augustine; Frigge, Michael L; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Stefansson, Hreinn; Young, Alexander I; Zink, Florian; Jonsdottir, Gudrun A; Okbay, Aysu; Sulem, Patrick; Masson, Gisli; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F; Helgason, Agnar; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Stefansson, Kari

2017-01-31

Epidemiological and genetic association studies show that genetics play an important role in the attainment of education. Here, we investigate the effect of this genetic component on the reproductive history of 109,120 Icelanders and the consequent impact on the gene pool over time. We show that an educational attainment polygenic score, POLY EDU, constructed from results of a recent study is associated with delayed reproduction (P < 10 -100 ) and fewer children overall. The effect is stronger for women and remains highly significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Based on 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990, we find that the average POLY EDU has been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale. Most importantly, because POLY EDU only captures a fraction of the overall underlying genetic component the latter could be declining at a rate that is two to three times faster.

Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment

PubMed Central

Kong, Augustine; Frigge, Michael L.; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Stefansson, Hreinn; Young, Alexander I.; Zink, Florian; Jonsdottir, Gudrun A.; Sulem, Patrick; Masson, Gisli; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F.; Helgason, Agnar; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Stefansson, Kari

2017-01-01

Epidemiological and genetic association studies show that genetics play an important role in the attainment of education. Here, we investigate the effect of this genetic component on the reproductive history of 109,120 Icelanders and the consequent impact on the gene pool over time. We show that an educational attainment polygenic score, POLYEDU, constructed from results of a recent study is associated with delayed reproduction (P < 10−100) and fewer children overall. The effect is stronger for women and remains highly significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Based on 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990, we find that the average POLYEDU has been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale. Most importantly, because POLYEDU only captures a fraction of the overall underlying genetic component the latter could be declining at a rate that is two to three times faster. PMID:28096410

Educational Attainment: Success to the Successful

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anthony, Peter; Gould, David; Smith, Gina

2013-01-01

Systems archetypes are patterns of structure found in systems that are helpful in understanding some of the dynamics within them. The intent of this study was to examine educational attainment data using the success-to-the-successful archetype as a model to see if it helps to explain the inequality observed in the data. Data covering 1990 to 2009…

Family Background Buys an Education in Minnesota but Not in Sweden

PubMed Central

Johnson, Wendy; Deary, Ian J.; Silventoinen, Karri; Tynelius, Per; Rasmussen, Finn

2010-01-01

Educational attainment, the highest degree or level of schooling obtained, is associated with important life outcomes, at both the individual level and the group level. Because of this, and because education is expensive, the allocation of education across society is an important social issue. A dynamic quantitative environmental-genetic model can help document the effects of social allocation patterns. We used this model to compare the moderating effect of general intelligence on the environmental and genetic factors that influence educational attainment in Sweden and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Patterns of genetic influence on educational outcomes were similar in these two regions, but patterns of shared environmental influence differed markedly. In Sweden, shared environmental influence on educational attainment was particularly important for people of high intelligence, whereas in Minnesota, shared environmental influences on educational attainment were particularly important for people of low intelligence. This difference may be the result of differing access to education: state-supported access (on the basis of ability) to a uniform higher-education system in Sweden, versus family-supported access to a more diverse higher-education system in the United States. PMID:20679521

Family background buys an education in Minnesota but not in Sweden.

PubMed

Johnson, Wendy; Deary, Ian J; Silventoinen, Karri; Tynelius, Per; Rasmussen, Finn

2010-09-01

Educational attainment, the highest degree or level of schooling obtained, is associated with important life outcomes, at both the individual level and the group level. Because of this, and because education is expensive, the allocation of education across society is an important social issue. A dynamic quantitative environmental-genetic model can help document the effects of social allocation patterns. We used this model to compare the moderating effect of general intelligence on the environmental and genetic factors that influence educational attainment in Sweden and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Patterns of genetic influence on educational outcomes were similar in these two regions, but patterns of shared environmental influence differed markedly. In Sweden, shared environmental influence on educational attainment was particularly important for people of high intelligence, whereas in Minnesota, shared environmental influences on educational attainment were particularly important for people of low intelligence. This difference may be the result of differing access to education: state-supported access (on the basis of ability) to a uniform higher-education system in Sweden versus family-supported access to a more diverse higher-education system in the United States.

Student Background and Teacher Effects on Achievement and Attainment in Mathematics: A Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muijs, Daniel; Reynolds, David

2003-01-01

In this article, we have studied the effect of student social background, classroom social context, classroom organisation, and teacher behaviours on mathematics achievement and attainment in English and Welsh primary schools. Data were collected over 2 years as part of a programme evaluation, for which we observed 138 teachers and tested and…

Maternal negative emotional expression and discipline in Beijing, China: The moderating role of educational attainment.

PubMed

Cheng, Feng; Wang, Yifang; Wu, Xixian; Su, Zhuqing

2018-03-01

The current study shows that parental punitive discipline places children at risk of developing internalizing and externalizing problems. Although some studies have analyzed the reasons for the use of discipline methods, little to no research has analyzed the moderating effects. In this study, we examine the relationship between maternal negative emotional expression and mothers' use of disciplinary methods (psychological aggression, corporal punishment and physical maltreatment) and the moderating effects of educational attainment in Chinese societies. Five hundred and sixteen mothers with preschool-aged children were recruited to participate in this research. The Chinese versions of the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire (SEFQ) and the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC) were used to measure the mothers' negative emotional expression and discipline, respectively. The results suggested that the mothers' negative emotional expression was positively related to their disciplinary behaviors. Moreover, maternal educational attainment moderated the association between negative emotional expression and discipline. The findings of the current study highlight the importance of considering how mothers' educational backgrounds may interact with their emotions to influence maternal disciplinary behaviors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does Parental Employment Affect Children's Educational Attainment?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schildberg-Hoerisch, Hannah

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes whether there exists a causal relationship between parental employment and children's educational attainment. We address potential endogeneity problems due to (i) selection of parents in the labor market by estimating a model on sibling differences and (ii) reverse causality by focusing on parents' employment when children are…

Higher Educational Attainment but not Higher Income is Protective for Cardiovascular Risk in Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) Users

PubMed Central

McKee, Michael M.; McKee, Kimberly; Winters, Paul; Sutter, Erika; Pearson, Thomas

2013-01-01

Background Higher educational attainment and income provide cardiovascular protection in the general population. It is unknown if the same effect is seen among Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users who face communication barriers in healthcare settings. Objective We sought to examine whether educational attainment and/or annual household income were inversely associated with cardiovascular risk in a sample of Deaf ASL users. Methods This cross-sectional study included 302 Deaf respondents aged 18-88 years from the Deaf Health Survey (2008), an adapted and translated Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) administered in sign language. Associations between the self-reported cardiovascular disease equivalents (CVDE; any of the following: diabetes, myocardial infarction (MI), cerebral vascular attack (CVA), and angina) with educational attainment (≤high school [low education], some college, and ≥4 year college degree [referent]), and annual household income (<$25,000, $25,000-<$50,000, or ≥$50,000 [referent]) were assessed using a multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and smoking history. Results Deaf respondents who reported ≤high school education were more likely to report the presence of a CVDE (OR 5.92; 95% CI 2.12-16.57) compared to Deaf respondents who reported having ≥4 year college degree after adjustment. However, low-income Deaf individuals (i.e. household incomes <$25,000) were not more likely to report the presence of a CVDE (OR=2.24; 95% CI 0.76-6.68) compared to high-income Deaf respondents after adjustment. Conclusion Low educational attainment was associated with higher likelihood of reported cardiovascular equivalents among Deaf individuals. Higher income did not appear to provide a cardiovascular protective effect for Deaf respondents. PMID:24411507

Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

PubMed Central

Lawrence, Wendy; Schlotz, Wolff; Crozier, Sarah; Skinner, Timothy C; Haslam, Cheryl; Robinson, Sian; Inskip, Hazel; Cooper, Cyrus; Barker, Mary

2013-01-01

Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children’s Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment. PMID:21078352

Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment.

PubMed

Lawrence, Wendy; Schlotz, Wolff; Crozier, Sarah; Skinner, Timothy C; Haslam, Cheryl; Robinson, Sian; Inskip, Hazel; Cooper, Cyrus; Barker, Mary

2011-02-01

Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving Educational Attainment: Recent Trends and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chingos, Matthew; McPherson, Michael

2011-01-01

A large majority of full-time students pursuing bachelor's degrees at four-year colleges and universities in the United States attend public universities. The struggle, therefore, to improve educational attainment and reduce the marked disparities in outcomes that lead to greater inequalities of all kinds will take place mainly within our nation's…

The Fiscal Consequences of Adult Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khatiwada, Ishwar; McLaughlin, Joseph; Sum, Andrew; Palma, Sheila

2007-01-01

This research monograph prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy is primarily designed to describe and analyze the net annual fiscal contributions (tax payments minus cash and in-kind transfers and institutionalization costs) of U.S. adults (ages 16-64) by their educational attainment in recent years. The report begins with an…

Life Cycles, Educational Attainment and Labor Markets.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winsborough, H.H., Sweet, J.A.

Two social changes are cited as particularly important to the projection of college enrollment trends. One is the rising educational attainment of the parents of future potential college attenders; the other is the fact that declines in fertility accompany declines in average family size. Overall, the illustration in this paper suggests that the…

Implications of Educational Attainment Trends for Labor Market Outcomes. ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (7)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buddin, Richard

2012-01-01

Well-educated workers have higher wages, higher wage growth, and lower unemployment rates than workers with lower levels of educational attainment. While earnings have traditionally grown with educational attainment, the gaps have become more pronounced in recent years. While returns to education have increased, this research shows that…

Relationships among Food Group Intakes, Household Expenditure, and Education Attainment in a General Japanese Population: NIPPON DATA2010

PubMed Central

Nakamura, Mieko; Ojima, Toshiyuki; Kondo, Imako; Ninomiya, Toshiharu; Yoshita, Katsushi; Arai, Yusuke; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Murakami, Yoshitaka; Takashima, Naoyuki; Kondo, Keiko; Okayama, Akira

2018-01-01

Background A lower socioeconomic status (SES) may be related to the intake of unhealthy food; however, this relationship has not been examined in detail. This study was undertaken to examine relationships among food group intakes and SES in a representative Japanese population. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using the baseline data of NIPPON DATA2010, which is a prospective cohort study of the National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan. A total of 2,898 participants were included in the baseline survey in 2010. The effects of age (<65 years and ≥65 years), equivalent household expenditure (EHE), and education attainment on food group intakes (gram per 1,000 kcal) were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance. Results When EHE was lower, cereal intake was higher in men and women. Among men, fish, milk, and alcohol intakes were reduced with lower EHE. Among women, vegetable intake was reduced with lower EHE. In men and women, cereal intake was higher with lower education attainment. In contrast, meat intake was reduced with lower education attainment. Conclusions Lower SES was associated with a higher cereal intake and lower vegetable, fish, meat, and milk intakes in a representative Japanese population. Socioeconomic discrepancies need to be considered in order to promote healthier dietary habits. PMID:29503382

Understanding the influence of educational attainment on kidney health and opportunities for improved care.

PubMed

Green, Jamie A; Cavanaugh, Kerri L

2015-01-01

Educational attainment is an important but often overlooked contributor to health outcomes in patients with kidney disease. Those with lower levels of education have an increased risk of ESRD, complications of peritoneal dialysis, worse transplant outcomes, and mortality. Mediators of these associations are poorly understood but involve a complex interplay between health knowledge, behaviors, and socioeconomic and psychosocial factors. Interventions targeting these aspects of care have the potential to reduce disparities related to educational attainment; however, few programs have been described that specifically address this issue. Future research efforts should not only systematically assess level of educational attainment but also report the differential impact of interventions across educational strata. In addition, routine measurement of health literacy may be useful to identify high-risk patients independent of years of schooling. A better understanding of the influence of educational attainment on kidney health provides an opportunity to improve the care and outcomes of vulnerable patients with kidney disease. Copyright © 2015 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adolescent Family Experiences and Educational Attainment during Early Adulthood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melby, Janet N.; Conger, Rand D.; Fang, Shu-Ann; Wickrama, K. A. S.; Conger, Katherine J.

2008-01-01

In this study, the authors investigated the degree to which a family investment model would help account for the association between family of origin socioeconomic characteristics and the later educational attainment of 451 young adults (age 26) from 2-parent families. Parents' educational level, occupational prestige, and family income in 1989…

Birth Order, Family Size and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Haan, Monique

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the effect of family size and birth order on educational attainment. An instrumental variables approach is used to identify the effect of family size. Instruments for the number of children are twins at last birth and the sex mix of the first two children. The effect of birth order is identified, by examining the relation…

National Differences in Intelligence and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynn, Richard; Mikk, Jaan

2007-01-01

We examine the correlations between the national IQs of Lynn and Vanhanen (Lynn, R. and Vanhanen, T. (2002). "IQ and the wealth of nations". Westport, CT: Praeger. Westport, CT: Praeger, Lynn, R. and Vanhanen, T. (2006). "IQ and global inequality". Athens, GA: Washington Summit Books.) and educational attainment scores in math and science for 10-…

Educational attainment and longevity: results from the REGARDS U.S. national cohort study of blacks and whites.

PubMed

Kaplan, Robert M; Howard, Virginia J; Safford, Monika M; Howard, George

2015-05-01

Educational attainment may be an important determinant of life expectancy. However, few studies have prospectively evaluated the relationship between educational attainment and life expectancy using adjustments for other social, behavioral, and biological factors. The data were from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study that enrolled 30,239 black and white adults (≥45 years) between 2003 and 2007. Demographic and cardiovascular risk information was collected and participants were followed for health outcomes. Educational attainment was categorized as less than high school education, high school graduate, some college, or college graduate. Proportional hazards analysis was used to characterize survival by level of education. Educational attainment and follow-up data were available on 29,657 (98%) of the participants. Over 6.3 years of follow-up, 3673 participants died. There was a monotonically increasing risk of death with lower levels of educational attainment. The same monotonic relationship held with adjustments for age, race, sex, cardiovascular risk factors, and health behaviors. The unadjusted hazard ratio for those without a high school education in comparison with college graduates was 2.89 (95% CI = 2.64-3.18). Although adjustment for income, health behaviors, and cardiovascular risk factors attenuated the relationship, the same consistent pattern was observed after adjustment. The relationship between educational attainment and longevity was similar for black and white participants. The monotonic relationship between educational attainment and longevity was observed for all age groups, except for those aged 85 years or more. Educational attainment is a significant predictor of longevity. Other factors including age, race, income, health behaviors, and cardiovascular risk factors only partially explain the relationship. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Associations of educational attainment, occupation, social class and major depressive disorder among Han Chinese women.

PubMed

Shi, Jianguo; Zhang, Yan; Liu, Feihu; Li, Yajuan; Wang, Junhui; Flint, Jonathan; Gao, Jingfang; Li, Youhui; Tao, Ming; Zhang, Kerang; Wang, Xumei; Gao, Chengge; Yang, Lijun; Li, Kan; Shi, Shenxun; Wang, Gang; Liu, Lanfen; Zhang, Jinbei; Du, Bo; Jiang, Guoqing; Shen, Jianhua; Zhang, Zhen; Liang, Wei; Sun, Jing; Hu, Jian; Liu, Tiebang; Wang, Xueyi; Miao, Guodong; Meng, Huaqing; Li, Yi; Hu, Chunmei; Li, Yi; Huang, Guoping; Li, Gongying; Ha, Baowei; Deng, Hong; Mei, Qiyi; Zhong, Hui; Gao, Shugui; Sang, Hong; Zhang, Yutang; Fang, Xiang; Yu, Fengyu; Yang, Donglin; Liu, Tieqiao; Chen, Yunchun; Hong, Xiaohong; Wu, Wenyuan; Chen, Guibing; Cai, Min; Song, Yan; Pan, Jiyang; Dong, Jicheng; Pan, Runde; Zhang, Wei; Shen, Zhenming; Liu, Zhengrong; Gu, Danhua; Wang, Xiaoping; Liu, Xiaojuan; Zhang, Qiwen; Li, Yihan; Chen, Yiping; Kendler, Kenneth S

2014-01-01

The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is higher in those with low levels of educational attainment, the unemployed and those with low social status. However the extent to which these factors cause MDD is unclear. Most of the available data comes from studies in developed countries, and these findings may not extrapolate to developing countries. Examining the relationship between MDD and socio economic status in China is likely to add to the debate because of the radical economic and social changes occurring in China over the last 30 years. We report results from 3,639 Chinese women with recurrent MDD and 3,800 controls. Highly significant odds ratios (ORs) were observed between MDD and full time employment (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.25-0.46, logP = 78), social status (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.77-0.87, logP = 13.3) and education attainment (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.86-0.90, logP = 6.8). We found a monotonic relationship between increasing age and increasing levels of educational attainment. Those with only primary school education have significantly more episodes of MDD (mean 6.5, P-value = 0.009) and have a clinically more severe disorder, while those with higher educational attainment are likely to manifest more comorbid anxiety disorders. In China lower socioeconomic position is associated with increased rates of MDD, as it is elsewhere in the world. Significantly more episodes of MDD occur among those with lower educational attainment (rather than longer episodes of disease), consistent with the hypothesis that the lower socioeconomic position increases the likelihood of developing MDD. The phenomenology of MDD varies according to the degree of educational attainment: higher educational attainment not only appears to protect against MDD but alters its presentation, to a more anxious phenotype.

The Contribution of Adolescent Effortful Control to Early Adult Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Véronneau, Marie-Hélène; Racer, Kristina Hiatt; Fosco, Gregory M.; Dishion, Thomas J.

2014-01-01

Effortful control has been proposed as a set of neurocognitive competencies that is relevant to self-regulation and educational attainment (Posner & Rothbart, 2007). This study tested the hypothesis that a multiagent report of adolescents’ effortful control (age 17) would be predictive of academic persistence and educational attainment (age 23–25), after controlling for other established predictors (family factors, problem behavior, grade point average, and substance use). Participants were 997 students recruited in 6th grade from 3 urban public middle schools (53% males; 42.4% European American; 29.2% African American). Consistent with the hypothesis, the unique association of effortful control with future educational attainment was comparable in strength to that of parental education and students’ past grade point average, suggesting that effortful control contributes to this outcome above and beyond well-established predictors. Path coefficients were equivalent across gender and ethnicity (European Americans and African Americans). Effortful control appears to be a core feature of the self-regulatory competencies associated with achievement of educational success in early adulthood. These findings suggest that the promotion of self-regulation in general and effortful control in particular may be an important focus not only for resilience to stress and avoidance of problem behavior, but also for growth in academic competence. PMID:25308996

Gender, Educational Attainment, and the Impact of Parental Migration on Children Left Behind.

PubMed

Antman, Francisca M

2012-10-01

Estimation of the causal effect of parental migration on children's educational attainment is complicated by the fact that migrants and non-migrants are likely to differ in unobservable ways that also affect children's educational outcomes. This paper suggests a novel way of addressing this selection problem by looking within the family to exploit variation in siblings' ages at the time of parental migration. The basic assumption underlying the analysis is that parental migration will have no effect on the educational outcomes of children who are at least 20 because they have already completed their educations. Their younger siblings, in contrast, may still be in school, and thus will be affected by the parental migration experience. The results point to a statistically significant positive effect of paternal U.S. migration on education for girls, suggesting that pushing a father's U.S. migration earlier in his daughter's life can lead to an increase in her educational attainment of up to 1 year relative to delaying migration until after she has turned 20. In contrast, paternal domestic migration has no statistically significant effect on educational attainment for girls or boys, suggesting that father absence does not play a major role in determining children's educational outcomes. Instead, these results suggest that the marginal dollars from U.S. migrant remittances appear to enable families to further educate their daughters. Thus, policymakers should view international migration as a potential pathway by which families raise educational attainments of girls in particular. JEL: O15; J12; J13; J16; J24; F22.

Parental interest in children's education, children's self-esteem and locus of control, and later educational attainment: twenty-six year follow-up of the 1970 British Birth Cohort.

PubMed

Flouri, Eirini

2006-03-01

Few studies have investigated if mother's interest and father's interest in child's education are linked to educational attainment via their impact on child's self-esteem and locus of control. (1) To investigate (after controlling for known confounding factors) the long-term effect of mother's and father's interest in child's education at age 10 and child's locus of control and self-esteem at age 10 in educational attainment at age 26; and (2) to explore if mother's interest and father's interest in child's education are linked to child's educational attainment via their effect in increasing child's self-esteem and internal locus of control. The study used longitudinal data from sweeps of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). The initial sample was those 1,737 men and 2,033 women with valid data on age 10 self-esteem, locus of control, father's interest, mother's interest, and age 26 educational attainment. Of these, 1,326 men and 1,578 women were included in the final analysis. The birth to age 10 factors that were controlled for were birth weight, parental social class, socio-economic disadvantage, emotional/behavioural problems, cognitive ability, and mother's educational attainment. At the multivariate level, internal locus of control and mother's interest (but not self-esteem) were significantly related to educational attainment in both men and women. Father's interest was a significant predictor of educational attainment only in women. Parent's interest was not linked to educational attainment via its impact on child's self-esteem or locus of control. Self-esteem predicted educational attainment in both genders by increasing internal locus of control, and fathers' interest predicted educational attainment in men by increasing mother's involvement. Although mothers' and fathers' interest in their children's education were not linked to educational attainment via their impact on children's self-esteem or locus of control, they were significant predictors of

The role of partners’ educational attainment in the association between HIV and education amongst women in seven sub-Saharan African countries

PubMed Central

Harling, Guy; Bärnighausen, Till

2016-01-01

Introduction Individuals’ educational attainment has long been considered as a risk factor for HIV. However, little attention has been paid to the association between partner educational attainment and HIV infection. Methods We conducted cross-sectional analysis of young women (aged 15–34) in 14 Demographic and Health Surveys from seven sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries with generalized HIV epidemics. We measured the degree of similarity in educational attainment (partner homophily) in 75,373 partnerships and evaluated the correlation between homophily and female HIV prevalence at the survey cluster level. We then used logistic regression to assess whether own and partner educational attainment was associated with HIV serostatus amongst 38,791 women. Results Educational attainment was positively correlated within partnerships in both urban and rural areas of every survey (Newman assortativity coefficients between 0.09 and 0.44), but this correlation was not ecologically associated with HIV prevalence. At the individual level, larger absolute differences between own and partner educational attainment were associated with significantly higher HIV prevalence amongst women. This association was heterogeneous across countries, but not between survey waves. In contrast to other women, for those aged 25–34 who had secondary or higher education, a more-educated partner was associated with lower HIV prevalence. Conclusions HIV prevalence amongst women in SSA is associated not only with one's own education but also with that of one's partner. These findings highlight the importance of understanding how partners place individuals at risk of infection and suggest that HIV prevention efforts may benefit from considering partner characteristics. PMID:26902392

The role of partners' educational attainment in the association between HIV and education amongst women in seven sub-Saharan African countries.

PubMed

Harling, Guy; Bärnighausen, Till

2016-01-01

Individuals' educational attainment has long been considered as a risk factor for HIV. However, little attention has been paid to the association between partner educational attainment and HIV infection. We conducted cross-sectional analysis of young women (aged 15-34) in 14 Demographic and Health Surveys from seven sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries with generalized HIV epidemics. We measured the degree of similarity in educational attainment (partner homophily) in 75,373 partnerships and evaluated the correlation between homophily and female HIV prevalence at the survey cluster level. We then used logistic regression to assess whether own and partner educational attainment was associated with HIV serostatus amongst 38,791 women. Educational attainment was positively correlated within partnerships in both urban and rural areas of every survey (Newman assortativity coefficients between 0.09 and 0.44), but this correlation was not ecologically associated with HIV prevalence. At the individual level, larger absolute differences between own and partner educational attainment were associated with significantly higher HIV prevalence amongst women. This association was heterogeneous across countries, but not between survey waves. In contrast to other women, for those aged 25-34 who had secondary or higher education, a more-educated partner was associated with lower HIV prevalence. HIV prevalence amongst women in SSA is associated not only with one's own education but also with that of one's partner. These findings highlight the importance of understanding how partners place individuals at risk of infection and suggest that HIV prevention efforts may benefit from considering partner characteristics.

Malaria Eradication and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Paraguay and Sri Lanka†

PubMed Central

Lucas, Adrienne M.

2013-01-01

Mid-twentieth century malaria eradication campaigns largely eliminated malaria from Paraguay and Sri Lanka. Using these interventions as quasi-experiments, I estimate malaria’s effect on lifetime female educational attainment through the combination of pre-existing geographic variation in malarial intensity and cohort exposure based on the timing of the national anti-malaria campaigns. The estimates from Sri Lanka and Paraguay are similar and indicate that malaria eradication increased years of educational attainment and literacy. The similarity of the estimates across the countries reinforces our confidence in the validity of the identification strategy. PMID:23946866

The Relative Impact of Educational Attainment and Fatherlessness on Criminality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koski, Douglas D.

1996-01-01

Regression analysis of 40 years of data on median income, education, divorce rate, and female-headed households was conducted to determine their influence on crime rates, especially homicide. Educational attainment had a significant bearing on criminality. Single parenting was less significant than low income. (SK)

Distinct association between educational attainment and overweight/obesity in unmarried and married women: evidence from a population-based study in Japan.

PubMed

Murakami, Keiko; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Hashimoto, Hideki

2017-11-25

Associations between education and obesity have been consistently reported among women in developed countries, but few studies have considered the influence of marital status and husbands' education. This study aimed to examine differences in the association between education and overweight/obesity by marital status and to determine the contribution of husbands' education to overweight/obesity among community-dwelling Japanese women. A questionnaire survey was conducted from 2010 to 2011 among residents aged 25-50 years in Japanese metropolitan areas. Of 2145 women who agreed to participate and completed the survey, 582 were unmarried and 1563 were married. Overweight/obesity was defined as body mass index ≥25 kg/m 2 . Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine whether women's or their husbands' education was associated with overweight/obesity after adjusting for age, work status, and equivalent income. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 11.9% among unmarried women and 10.3% among married women. Women's own education was significantly associated with overweight/obesity among unmarried women but not among married women. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratio of high school education or lower compared with university education or higher was 3.21 (95% confidence interval: 1.59-6.51) among unmarried women. Among married women, husbands' education was significantly associated with overweight/obesity: women whose husbands' educational attainment was high school or lower had significantly higher odds of overweight/obesity than did those whose husbands had a university education or higher (1.67, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-2.55). Among married women whose educational attainment was college or higher, women whose husbands' educational attainment was high school or lower had a significantly higher risk for overweight/obesity when compared with women whose husbands' educational attainment was college or higher. Associations between women's own

The Risk for Impaired Learning-related Abilities in Childhood and Educational Attainment Among Adults Born Near-term

PubMed Central

Halperin, Jeffrey M.; Newcorn, Jeffrey H.; Davey, Charles; Fifer, William P.; Savitz, David A.; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2009-01-01

Objective To examine whether near-term births (NTB) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants are at high risk for childhood learning-related problems and poor adult educational attainment, and whether poverty amplifies the adverse effects of NTB and SGA on those outcomes. Methods A randomly selected birth cohort (n = 1,619) was followed into adulthood. IQ and learning abilities were measured in childhood and educational attainment was measured in adulthood. Results NTB (n = 226) and SGA (n = 154) were associated with lower educational attainment mediated through learning-related abilities at age 7. Childhood poverty moderated the impact of NTB on educational attainment both directly and mediated through lower learning-related abilities. Poverty did not moderate the effect of SGA. Conclusions Poorer learning-related outcomes and educational attainment were not limited to children born very (<32 weeks) or extremely (<28 weeks) preterm, especially among those living in poverty. Targeted interventions such as remedial learning during childhood among NTB in poor families may yield higher educational attainment. PMID:18794190

The Relationship between General Population Suicide Rates and Educational Attainment: A Cross-National Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shah, Ajit; Bhandarkar, Ritesh

2009-01-01

Suicides are associated with both high and low levels of intelligence and educational attainment in both individual-level and aggregate-level studies. A cross-national study examining the relationship between general population suicide rates ("y") and educational attainment ("x") was undertaken with the "a priori" hypothesis that the relationship…

Identification of Gene Loci That Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Le Hellard, Stéphanie; Wang, Yunpeng; Witoelar, Aree; Zuber, Verena; Bettella, Francesco; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Espeseth, Thomas; Steen, Vidar M.; Melle, Ingrid; Desikan, Rahul; Schork, Andrew J.; Thompson, Wesley K.; Dale, Anders M.; Djurovic, Srdjan

2017-01-01

Abstract There is evidence for genetic overlap between cognitive abilities and schizophrenia (SCZ), and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) demonstrate that both SCZ and general cognitive abilities have a strong polygenic component with many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) each with a small effect. Here we investigated the shared genetic architecture between SCZ and educational attainment, which is regarded as a “proxy phenotype” for cognitive abilities, but may also reflect other traits. We applied a conditional false discovery rate (condFDR) method to GWAS of SCZ (n = 82 315), college completion (“College,” n = 95 427), and years of education (“EduYears,” n = 101 069). Variants associated with College or EduYears showed enrichment of association with SCZ, demonstrating polygenic overlap. This was confirmed by an increased replication rate in SCZ. By applying a condFDR threshold <0.01, we identified 18 genomic loci associated with SCZ after conditioning on College and 15 loci associated with SCZ after conditioning on EduYears. Ten of these loci overlapped. Using conjunctional FDR, we identified 10 loci shared between SCZ and College, and 29 loci shared between SCZ and EduYears. The majority of these loci had effects in opposite directions. Our results provide evidence for polygenic overlap between SCZ and educational attainment, and identify novel pleiotropic loci. Other studies have reported genetic overlap between SCZ and cognition, or SCZ and educational attainment, with negative correlation. Importantly, our methods enable identification of bi-directional effects, which highlight the complex relationship between SCZ and educational attainment, and support polygenic mechanisms underlying both cognitive dysfunction and creativity in SCZ. PMID:27338279

Emerging disparities in overweight by educational attainment in Chinese adults (1989-2006).

PubMed

Jones-Smith, J C; Gordon-Larsen, P; Siddiqi, A; Popkin, B M

2012-06-01

To test whether a disparity in overweight by socioeconomic status (SES; represented by educational attainment) has emerged among men or women during a recent 17-year period in China. Data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), a panel study including 7314 women and 6492 men, are used to longitudinally track the body mass index (BMI) and odds of overweight by educational attainment among Chinese adults (baseline age 18-50) from 1989 to 2006 to determine whether individuals of low (secondary school) educational attainment experienced a disproportionately faster increase in BMI or odds of overweight (BMI≥25) over time. The unadjusted mean BMI and prevalence of overweight by education are presented. Sex-stratified, random-effects models are used to estimate the associations, and interactions by birth cohort are included. Overweight prevalence doubled for women and tripled for men. In 1989, among women, the odds of overweight were not different for those of high versus those of low educational attainment; however, by 2006, the odds of overweight were significantly lower for those with the highest education in both the younger (odds ratio (OR) 0.22 (CI 0.11, 0.42)) and the older (OR 0.27 (CI 0.10, 0.72)) birth cohorts. The reverse trend is seen for men, who also begin with no difference in odds of overweight by SES, but by 2006, the OR for the highest versus the lowest education group was 3.4 (CI 1.82, 6.18). Over 17 years, low SES has become associated with higher BMI and odds of overweight among Chinese women, whereas high SES remains a risk factor for overweight among Chinese men.

Understanding the Educational Attainment of Sexual Minority Women and Men*

PubMed Central

Mollborn, Stefanie; Everett, Bethany

2015-01-01

National studies have not analyzed sexual identity disparities in high school completion, college enrollment, or college completion in the United States. Using Add Health data, we document the relationship between adult sexual orientation and each of these outcomes. Many sexual minority respondents experienced disadvantages in adolescent academic achievement, school experiences, and social environments. This translates into educational attainment in complex, gendered ways. We find that the socially privileged completely heterosexual identity predicts higher educational attainment for women, while for men it is often a liability. Mostly heterosexual and gay identities are educationally beneficial for men but not women. There are college completion disparities between gay and mostly heterosexual women and their completely heterosexual counterparts. Bisexual respondents, especially women, have particularly problematic outcomes. Adolescent experiences, attitudes, and social contexts explain some of these differences. From adolescence through college, sexual minority groups, but especially females, need intervention to reduce substantial educational disparities. PMID:26257457

Models of Educational Attainment: A Theoretical and Methodological Critique

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrne, D. S.; And Others

1973-01-01

Uses cluster analysis techniques to show that egalitarian policies in secondary education coupled with high financial inputs have measurable payoffs in higher attainment rates, based on Max Weber's notion of power'' within a community. (Author/JM)

The Effect of Migraine Headache on Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rees, Daniel I.; Sabia, Joseph J.

2011-01-01

Despite the fact that migraine headaches are common and debilitating, little is known about their effect on educational attainment. Using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate the relationship between migraine headache and three outcomes: high school grade point average, the probability of graduating…

Keyboarding Coursework and Employment, Earnings, and Educational Attainment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hearn, James C.; And Others

1993-01-01

Survey data from 6,476 postsecondary students and 2,525 nonstudents were examined for postschool effects of student participation in typing and keyboarding coursework on employment, earnings, further education attainment, and related equity and cost-effectiveness issues. Results indicate significant positive effects on almost all aspects examined.…

Gender, Educational Attainment, and the Impact of Parental Migration on Children Left Behind*

PubMed Central

Antman, Francisca M.

2016-01-01

Estimation of the causal effect of parental migration on children’s educational attainment is complicated by the fact that migrants and non-migrants are likely to differ in unobservable ways that also affect children’s educational outcomes. This paper suggests a novel way of addressing this selection problem by looking within the family to exploit variation in siblings’ ages at the time of parental migration. The basic assumption underlying the analysis is that parental migration will have no effect on the educational outcomes of children who are at least 20 because they have already completed their educations. Their younger siblings, in contrast, may still be in school, and thus will be affected by the parental migration experience. The results point to a statistically significant positive effect of paternal U.S. migration on education for girls, suggesting that pushing a father’s U.S. migration earlier in his daughter’s life can lead to an increase in her educational attainment of up to 1 year relative to delaying migration until after she has turned 20. In contrast, paternal domestic migration has no statistically significant effect on educational attainment for girls or boys, suggesting that father absence does not play a major role in determining children’s educational outcomes. Instead, these results suggest that the marginal dollars from U.S. migrant remittances appear to enable families to further educate their daughters. Thus, policymakers should view international migration as a potential pathway by which families raise educational attainments of girls in particular. JEL: O15; J12; J13; J16; J24; F22 PMID:27616818

Social Mobility or Social Reproduction? A Case Study of the Attainment Patterns of Students According to Their Social Background and Ethnicity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Matthew; Collins, Gemma; Butt, Graham

2015-01-01

This paper explores levels of achievement amongst boys who attended a selective school in Birmingham, UK through consideration of their attainment, social background and ethnicity. It seeks to answer three main questions. Firstly, to what extent does academic attainment vary between students from different socio-economic groups and ethnic…

The relationship between STEM educational attainment and utility patent conferrals: A state-level analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Yuqi

The utility patent, as a legal record of invention, is widely believed to be a close proxy for innovation among firms, industries, and economies as a whole. One of the critical drivers of patenting -- and ultimately, innovation -- is education. The science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields in education are of special importance. There is, however, little empirical research to substantiate a connection between STEM education and innovation outcomes. Seeking to fill this gap, this paper finds that, in general, there is no evidence of a meaningful relationship between STEM educational attainment and utility patent conferrals. The relationship of interest, though generally not statistically significant, is stronger for temporary US visa holders than for US citizens or permanent US residents. However, I find a large and statistically significant association between STEM educational attainment and utility patent conferrals for states that have above-average college educational attainment or above-average advanced industries workforce concentration.

Identification of Gene Loci That Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Educational Attainment.

PubMed

Le Hellard, Stéphanie; Wang, Yunpeng; Witoelar, Aree; Zuber, Verena; Bettella, Francesco; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Espeseth, Thomas; Steen, Vidar M; Melle, Ingrid; Desikan, Rahul; Schork, Andrew J; Thompson, Wesley K; Dale, Anders M; Djurovic, Srdjan; Andreassen, Ole A

2017-05-01

There is evidence for genetic overlap between cognitive abilities and schizophrenia (SCZ), and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) demonstrate that both SCZ and general cognitive abilities have a strong polygenic component with many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) each with a small effect. Here we investigated the shared genetic architecture between SCZ and educational attainment, which is regarded as a "proxy phenotype" for cognitive abilities, but may also reflect other traits. We applied a conditional false discovery rate (condFDR) method to GWAS of SCZ (n = 82 315), college completion ("College," n = 95 427), and years of education ("EduYears," n = 101 069). Variants associated with College or EduYears showed enrichment of association with SCZ, demonstrating polygenic overlap. This was confirmed by an increased replication rate in SCZ. By applying a condFDR threshold <0.01, we identified 18 genomic loci associated with SCZ after conditioning on College and 15 loci associated with SCZ after conditioning on EduYears. Ten of these loci overlapped. Using conjunctional FDR, we identified 10 loci shared between SCZ and College, and 29 loci shared between SCZ and EduYears. The majority of these loci had effects in opposite directions. Our results provide evidence for polygenic overlap between SCZ and educational attainment, and identify novel pleiotropic loci. Other studies have reported genetic overlap between SCZ and cognition, or SCZ and educational attainment, with negative correlation. Importantly, our methods enable identification of bi-directional effects, which highlight the complex relationship between SCZ and educational attainment, and support polygenic mechanisms underlying both cognitive dysfunction and creativity in SCZ. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Effects of Short-Term and Long-Term Poverty on Educational Attainment of Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaikind, Stephen

This report examines how periods of poverty affect children's educational attainment. Educational attainment is measured by whether a student is at or behind the modal grade level expected for each given age. A cross-tabular analysis was performed on a sample of 16-, 17- and 18-year-old children who were in high school at some point during the…

Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: The Role of Household Assets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Jin

2013-01-01

High intergenerational persistence of educational attainment is an indicator of educational inequality and a barrier to equal opportunities in the labor market and beyond. This study uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to generate a sample of two cohorts of children ('84 and '94 cohorts), and it examines whether intergenerational…

Impact of Educational Attainment on Health Outcomes in Moderate to Severe CKD.

PubMed

Morton, Rachael L; Schlackow, Iryna; Staplin, Natalie; Gray, Alastair; Cass, Alan; Haynes, Richard; Emberson, Jonathan; Herrington, William; Landray, Martin J; Baigent, Colin; Mihaylova, Borislava

2016-01-01

The inverse association between educational attainment and mortality is well established, but its relevance to vascular events and renal progression in a population with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is less clear. This study aims to determine the association between highest educational attainment and risk of vascular events, cause-specific mortality, and CKD progression. Prospective epidemiologic analysis among participants in the Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP), a randomized controlled trial. 9,270 adults with moderate to severe CKD (6,245 not receiving dialysis at baseline) and no history of myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization recruited in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Highest educational attainment measured at study entry using 6 levels that ranged from "no formal education" to "tertiary education." Any vascular event (any fatal or nonfatal cardiac, cerebrovascular, or peripheral vascular event), cause-specific mortality, and CKD progression during 4.9 years' median follow-up. There was a significant trend (P<0.001) toward increased vascular risk with decreasing levels of education. Participants with no formal education were at a 46% higher risk of vascular events (relative risk [RR], 1.46; 95% CI, 1.14-1.86) compared with participants with tertiary education. The trend for mortality across education levels was also significant (P<0.001): all-cause mortality was twice as high among those with no formal education compared with tertiary-educated individuals (RR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.62-2.58), and significant increases were seen for both vascular (RR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.21-2.81) and nonvascular (RR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.60-2.89) deaths. Lifestyle factors and prior disease explain most of the excess mortality risk. Among 6,245 participants not receiving dialysis at baseline, education level was not significantly associated with progression to end-stage renal disease or doubling of creatinine level (P for trend = 0.4). No

Association of educational attainment with chronic disease and mortality: the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP).

PubMed

Choi, Andy I; Weekley, Cristin C; Chen, Shu-Cheng; Li, Suying; Tamura, Manjula Kurella; Norris, Keith C; Shlipak, Michael G

2011-08-01

Recent reports have suggested a close relationship between education and health, including mortality, in the United States. Observational cohort. We studied 61,457 participants enrolled in a national health screening initiative, the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP). Self-reported educational attainment. Chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, reduced kidney function, and albuminuria) and mortality. We evaluated cross-sectional associations between self-reported educational attainment with the chronic diseases listed using logistic regression models adjusted for demographics, access to care, behaviors, and comorbid conditions. The association of educational attainment with survival was determined using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression. Higher educational attainment was associated with a lower prevalence of each of the chronic conditions listed. In multivariable models, compared with persons not completing high school, college graduates had a lower risk of each chronic condition, ranging from 11% lower odds of decreased kidney function to 37% lower odds of cardiovascular disease. During a mean follow-up of 3.9 (median, 3.7) years, 2,384 (4%) deaths occurred. In the fully adjusted Cox model, those who had completed college had 24% lower mortality compared with participants who had completed at least some high school. Lack of income data does not allow us to disentangle the independent effects of education from income. In this diverse contemporary cohort, higher educational attainment was associated independently with a lower prevalence of chronic diseases and short-term mortality in all age and race/ethnicity groups. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Nexus of Place and Finance in the Analysis of Educational Attainment: A Spatial Econometric Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Farah

2012-01-01

This study examines the spatial distribution of educational attainment and then builds upon current predictive frameworks for understanding patterns of educational attainment by applying a spatial econometric method of analysis. The research from this study enables a new approach to the policy discussion on how to improve educational attainment…

Educational attainment and adult literacy: A descriptive account of 31 Sub-Saharan Africa countries.

PubMed

Smith-Greenaway, Emily

2015-11-11

More than 60 years ago the international community declared literacy a basic human right. Recognition of its intrinsic value and evidence of its social and economic benefits have motivated an expansive international effort to estimate the percentage of adults that can read, especially in low-income countries where educational opportunities are limited. Population data on adults' educational attainment is commonly used to approximate adult literacy rates. Though increasing evidence from school-based studies of pupils confirm literacy achievement is not universal - even at advanced grades - it remains unclear whether adults' educational attainment is reflective of their literacy. This study leverages population-based data that include direct assessments of adults' literacy skills to provide a descriptive account of the proportion of adults that can read at each level of educational attainment. The study focuses on the Sub-Saharan African context, a world region where school participation has expanded rapidly in the last three decades. Because many African adults have discontinued their education at the primary level, the study focuses on basic reading skills at each level of primary school. The study focuses specifically on women, whose literacy has garnered extensive international interest. Demographic and Health Survey data from 31 African countries confirm that there are many instances in which women have several years of primary school but cannot read. In fact, in some countries, large proportions of African women who never went to school can read, even as some of their peers who have completed primary school cannot. The weak correlation between educational attainment and literacy is not specific to older cohorts of women, but is also observed among younger women. The findings demonstrate that educational attainment is generally a poor proxy for literacy, highlighting the need to measure, theorize, and study literacy as empirically distinct from education.

Effect of Retention in Elementary Grades on Grade 9 Motivation for Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Cham, Heining; Hughes, Jan N.; West, Stephen G.; Im, Myung Hee

2014-01-01

This study investigated the effect of grade retention in elementary school on students’ motivation for educational attainment in grade 9. We equated retained and promoted students on 67 covariates assessed in grade 1 through propensity score weighting. Retained students (31.55%, nretained = 177) and continuously promoted students (68.45%, npromoted = 384) were compared on the bifactor model of motivation for educational attainment (Cham, Hughes, West, & Im, 2014). This model consists of a General factor (student’s overall motivation for educational attainment), and three specific factors: student perceived Teacher Educational Expectations, Peer Educational Aspirations, and Value of Education. Measurement invariance between retained and promoted groups was established. Retained students scored significantly higher than promoted students on each specific factor but not on the General factor. Results showed that the retained and promoted students did not significantly differ on the General factor. The retained students had significantly higher scores on each specific factor than the promoted students. The results suggested that grade retention may not have the negative effects so widely assumed in the published literature; it is an expensive intervention with minimal evidence of benefits to the retained student. PMID:25636258

Trends in Educational Attainment by Race/Ethnicity, Nativity, and Sex in the United States, 1989–2005

PubMed Central

EVERETT, BETHANY G.; ROGERS, RICHARD G.; HUMMER, ROBERT A.; KRUEGER, PATRICK M.

2012-01-01

Despite the importance of education for shaping individuals’ life chances, little research has examined trends and differences in educational attainment for detailed demographic subpopulations in the United States. We use labor market segmentation and cohort replacement theories, linear regression methods, and data from the National Health Interview Survey to understand educational attainment by race/ethnicity, nativity, birth cohort, and sex between 1989 and 2005 in the United States. There have been significant changes in educational attainment over time. In support of the cohort replacement theory, we find that across cohorts, females have enjoyed greater gains in education than men, and for some race/ethnic groups, recent cohorts of women average more years of education than comparable men. And in support of labor market segmentation theories, foreign-born Mexican Americans continue to possess relatively low levels of educational attainment. Our results can aid policymakers in identifying vulnerable populations, and form the base from which to better understand changing disparities in education. PMID:22649275

Do ICT Competences Support Educational Attainment at University?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Wit, Kurt; Heerwegh, Dirk; Verhoeven, Jef C.

2012-01-01

Taking into account that universities assume students will have at least some basic knowledge of the use of computers and the Internet, we hypothesize that the command of ICT skills by freshmen could have an influence on their educational attainment. To test this hypothesis an online questionnaire was used, which was answered by a representative…

The Attainment of Ethnic Minority Students in UK Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, John T. E.

2008-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that academic attainment by ethnic minority graduates at UK institutions of higher education is lower than that by White graduates. This was confirmed using a database of all UK-domiciled graduates from UK higher education institutions in 2004-05. The trend was greater in older students than in younger students, in…

Educational Attainment of the Public Health Workforce and Its Implications for Workforce Development.

PubMed

Leider, Jonathon P; Harper, Elizabeth; Bharthapudi, Kiran; Castrucci, Brian C

2015-01-01

Educational attainment is a critical issue in public health workforce development. However, relatively little is known about the actual attainment of staff in state health agencies (SHAs). Ascertain the levels of educational attainment among SHA employees, as well as the correlates of attainment. Using a stratified sampling approaching, staff from SHAs were surveyed using the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) instrument in late 2014. A nationally representative sample was drawn across 5 geographic (paired adjacent HHS) regions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed using balanced repeated replication weights to account for complex sampling. A logistic regression was conducted with attainment of a bachelor's degree as the dependent variable and age, region, supervisory status, race/ethnicity, gender, and staff type as independent variables. Web-based survey of SHA central office employees. Educational attainment overall, as well as receipt of a degree with a major in public health. A total of 10,246 permanently-employed SHA central office staff participated in the survey (response rate 46%). Seventy-five percent (95% confidence interval [CI], 74-77) had a bachelor's degree, 38% (95% CI, 37-40) had a master's degree, and 9% (95% CI, 8%-10%) had a doctoral degree. A logistic regression showed Asian staff had the highest odds of having a bachelor's degree (odds ratio [OR] = 2.8; 95% CI, 2.2-3.7) compared with non-Hispanic whites, and Hispanic/Latino staff had lower odds (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8). Women had lower odds of having a bachelor's degree than men (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.4-0.6). About 17% of the workforce (95% CI, 16-18) had a degree in public health at any level. Educational attainment among SHA central office staff is high, but relatively few have formal training of any sort in public health. This makes efforts to increase availability of on-the-job training and distance learning all the more critical.

Educational Attainment of the Public Health Workforce and Its Implications for Workforce Development

PubMed Central

Leider, Jonathon P.; Harper, Elizabeth; Bharthapudi, Kiran; Castrucci, Brian C.

2015-01-01

Context: Educational attainment is a critical issue in public health workforce development. However, relatively little is known about the actual attainment of staff in state health agencies (SHAs). Objective: Ascertain the levels of educational attainment among SHA employees, as well as the correlates of attainment. Design: Using a stratified sampling approaching, staff from SHAs were surveyed using the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) instrument in late 2014. A nationally representative sample was drawn across 5 geographic (paired adjacent HHS) regions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed using balanced repeated replication weights to account for complex sampling. A logistic regression was conducted with attainment of a bachelor's degree as the dependent variable and age, region, supervisory status, race/ethnicity, gender, and staff type as independent variables. Setting and Participants: Web-based survey of SHA central office employees. Main Outcome Measure: Educational attainment overall, as well as receipt of a degree with a major in public health. Results: A total of 10 246 permanently-employed SHA central office staff participated in the survey (response rate 46%). Seventy-five percent (95% confidence interval [CI], 74-77) had a bachelor's degree, 38% (95% CI, 37-40) had a master's degree, and 9% (95% CI, 8%-10%) had a doctoral degree. A logistic regression showed Asian staff had the highest odds of having a bachelor's degree (odds ratio [OR] = 2.8; 95% CI, 2.2-3.7) compared with non-Hispanic whites, and Hispanic/Latino staff had lower odds (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8). Women had lower odds of having a bachelor's degree than men (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.4-0.6). About 17% of the workforce (95% CI, 16-18) had a degree in public health at any level. Conclusions: Educational attainment among SHA central office staff is high, but relatively few have formal training of any sort in public health. This makes efforts to increase

Delirium in elderly patients: association with educational attainment.

PubMed

Martins, Sónia; Paiva, José Artur; Simões, Mário R; Fernandes, Lia

2017-04-01

Among cognitive reserve markers, educational attainment is the most widely studied, with several studies establishing a strong association with risk of dementia. However, it has not yet been fully examined in delirium. This study aims to analyse the relationship between educational attainment and delirium. The study included elderly hospitalised patients admitted (≥48 h) into an intermediate care unit (IMCU) of Intensive Care Medicine Service. Exclusion criteria were as follows: Glasgow Coma Scale (total≤11), blindness/deafness, inability to communicate or to speak Portuguese. The European Portuguese Version of the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) was used for delirium assessment. The final sample (n=157) had a mean age of 78.8 (SD=7.6) the majority being female (52.2%), married (51.5%) and with low educational level (49%). According to CAM, 21% of the patients had delirium. The delirium group presented the fewest years of education (median 1 vs. 4), with statistical significance (p=0.003). Delirium was more frequent among male patients [odds ratio (OR) 0.32; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.12-0.86; p=0.023], as well as those patients with lower education (OR 0.76; 95% CI 0.62-0.95; p=0.016), and with respiratory disease (OR 3.35; 95% CI 1.20-9.33; p=0.020), after controlling for age and medication. Similar to previous studies, these findings point to a negative correlation between education and delirium. This study appears as an attempt to contribute to the knowledge about the role of cognitive reserve in risk of delirium, particularly because is the first one that has been carried out in an IMCU, with lower educated elderly patients. Further studies are needed to clarify this relationship considering other markers (e.g. cognitive activities), which can contribute to the definition of preventive strategies.

Sexual orientation disparities in mental health: the moderating role of educational attainment.

PubMed

Barnes, David M; Hatzenbuehler, Mark L; Hamilton, Ava D; Keyes, Katherine M

2014-09-01

Mental health disparities between sexual minorities and heterosexuals remain inadequately understood, especially across levels of educational attainment. The purpose of the present study was to test whether education modifies the association between sexual orientation and mental disorder. We compared the odds of past 12-month and lifetime psychiatric disorder prevalence (any Axis-I, any mood, any anxiety, any substance use, and comorbidity) between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and heterosexual individuals by educational attainment (those with and without a bachelor's degree), adjusting for covariates, and tested for interaction between sexual orientation and educational attainment. Data are drawn from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative survey of non-institutionalized US adults (N = 34,653; 577 LGB). Sexual orientation disparities in mental health are smaller among those with a college education. Specifically, the disparity in those with versus those without a bachelor's degree was attenuated by 100 % for any current mood disorder, 82 % for any current Axis-I disorder, 76 % for any current anxiety disorder, and 67 % for both any current substance use disorder and any current comorbidity. Further, the interaction between sexual orientation and education was statistically significant for any current Axis-I disorder, any current mood disorder, and any current anxiety disorder. Our findings for lifetime outcomes were similar. The attenuated mental health disparity at higher education levels underscores the particular risk for disorder among LGBs with less education. Future studies should consider selection versus causal factors to explain the attenuated disparity we found at higher education levels.

Educational attainment among adult survivors of childhood cancer in Great Britain: a population-based cohort study.

PubMed

Lancashire, E R; Frobisher, C; Reulen, R C; Winter, D L; Glaser, A; Hawkins, M M

2010-02-24

Previous studies of educational attainment among childhood cancer survivors were small, had contradictory findings, and were not population based. This study investigated educational attainment in a large population-based cohort of survivors of all types of childhood cancer in Great Britain. Four levels of educational attainment among 10,183 cancer survivors--degree, teaching qualification, advanced (A') levels, and ordinary (O') levels--were compared with expected levels in the general population. A questionnaire was used to obtain educational attainment data for survivors, and comparable information for the general population was available from the General Household Survey. Factors associated with level of educational attainment achieved by cancer survivors were identified using multivariable logistic regression together with likelihood ratio tests. Logistic regression adjusting for age and sex was used for comparisons with the general population. All statistical tests were two-sided. Childhood cancer survivors had lower educational attainment than the general population (degree: odds ratio [OR] = 0.77, 99% confidence interval [CI] = 0.68 to 0.87; teaching qualification: OR = 0.85, 99% CI = 0.77 to 0.94; A'level: OR = 0.85, 99% CI = 0.78 to 0.93; O'level: OR = 0.81, 99% CI = 0.74 to 0.90; P < .001, all levels). Statistically significant deficits were restricted to central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm and leukemia survivors. For leukemia, only those treated with radiotherapy were considered. Odds ratios for achievement by irradiated CNS tumor survivors were 50%-74% of those for cranially irradiated leukemia or nonirradiated CNS tumor survivors. Survivors at greater risk of poorer educational outcomes included those treated with cranial irradiation, diagnosed with a CNS tumor, older at questionnaire completion, younger at diagnosis, diagnosed with epilepsy, and who were female. Specific groups of childhood cancer survivors achieve lower-than-expected educational

Doubling Up: Intensive Math Instruction and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cortes, Kalena; Goodman, Joshua; Nomi, Takako

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research is to study the long-run impacts (i.e. on educational attainment) of a freshman math intervention called "double-dose algebra". The intervention was conducted in 2003 and 2004 within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), a large, poor urban school district. In response to low passing rates in 9th grade algebra,…

Educational Attainment by Life Course Sexual Attraction: Prevalence and Correlates in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adults

PubMed Central

Walsemann, Katrina M.; Lindley, Lisa L.; Gentile, Danielle; Welihindha, Shehan V.

2014-01-01

Researchers know relatively little about the educational attainment of sexual minorities, despite the fact that educational attainment is consistently associated with a range of social, economic, and health outcomes. We examined whether sexual attraction in adolescence and early adulthood was associated with educational attainment in early adulthood among a nationally representative sample of US young adults. We analyzed Waves I and IV restricted data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n=14,111). Sexual orientation was assessed using self-reports of romantic attraction in Waves I (adolescence) and IV (adulthood). Multinomial regression models were estimated and all analyses were stratified by gender. Women attracted to the same-sex in adulthood only had lower educational attainment compared to women attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Men attracted to the same-sex in adolescence only had lower educational attainment compared to men attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Adolescent experiences and academic performance attenuated educational disparities among men and women. Adjustment for adolescent experiences also revealed a suppression effect; women attracted to the same-sex in adolescence and adulthood had lower predicted probabilities of having a high school diploma or less compared to women attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Our findings challenge previous research documenting higher educational attainment among sexual minorities in the US. Additional population-based studies documenting the educational attainment of sexual minority adults are needed. PMID:25382888

Household Structure and Children’s Educational Attainment: A Perspective on Coresidence with Grandparents

PubMed Central

Monserud, Maria A.; Elder, Glen H.

2013-01-01

Children from alternative households complete fewer years of schooling. Yet little is known about the implications of coresidence with grandparents for educational attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,083), this study found that extended households with two biological parents were not detrimental to high school completion or college enrollment. Although coresidence with grandparents did not compensate for not living with two biological parents, it seemed to be beneficial for the educational attainment of youth from single-mother households. In contrast, skipped-generation households were associated with a persistent disadvantage for educational attainment. Limited socioeconomic resources partially accounted for the adverse effects of alternative households, whereas parenting quality did not explain these effects. Interactions of gender by household structure suggested that stepfather households could have negative consequences for high school completion and college enrollment only for girls. PMID:24415799

Effect of Adolescent Cigarette Smoking on Adulthood Substance Use and Abuse: The Mediating Role of Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Strong, Carol; Juon, Hee-Soon; Ensminger, Margaret E.

2018-01-01

Background Even though the association between cigarette smoking and later substance use has been shown, there is still no compelling evidence that demonstrates the long-term effects in a high drug using community in African Americans. Few studies have examined the mediating mechanisms of the effect of adolescent cigarette smoking on the drug progression pathway. Objectives We examined the long-term influence of adolescent smoking on later illegal drug use in a cohort of urban African Americans, and the mediating role of educational attainment in the drug progression pathway. Methods The study used a longitudinal dataset from the Woodlawn Project that followed 1,242 African Americans from 1966–1967 (at age 6–7) through 2002–2003 (at age 42–43). We used the propensity score matching method to find a regular and a nonregular adolescent smoking group that had similar childhood characteristics; we used the matched sample to assess the association between adolescent smoking and drug progression, and the mediating role of educational attainment. Results Adolescent regular smokers showed significantly higher odds of using marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, having alcohol abuse problems and any drug dependence, and abuse problems in adulthood. We found that educational attainment mediated most of the drug progression pathway, including cigarette smoking, marijuana, cocaine and heroin use, and drug dependence or abuse problems in adulthood, but not alcohol abuse. Conclusions More focus needs to be put on high school dropout and development of interventions in community settings for African Americans to alter the pathway for drug progression for adolescents who use cigarettes regularly. PMID:26787191

Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015. Population Characteristics. Current Population Reports. P20-578

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Camille L.; Bauman, Kurt

2016-01-01

This report provides a portrait of educational attainment in the United States based on data collected from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The report examines educational attainment of the adult population by demographic and social characteristics such as age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and disability status, as well as differences in…

The effects of adolescent intimate partner violence on women's educational attainment and earnings.

PubMed

Adams, Adrienne E; Greeson, Megan R; Kennedy, Angie C; Tolman, Richard M

2013-11-01

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious, widespread problem that negatively affects women's lives, including their economic status. The current study explored whether the financial harm associated with IPV begins as early as adolescence. With longitudinal data from a sample of 498 women currently or formerly receiving welfare, we used latent growth curve modeling to examine the relationships between adolescent IPV, educational attainment, and women's earnings. We found that women who had been victimized by a partner during adolescence obtained less education compared with nonvictimized women, with victimization indirectly influencing women's earnings via educational attainment. The findings support the need for intervention strategies aimed at preventing IPV and promoting women's educational and career development over the life course.

Reading disability and adult attained education and income: evidence from a 30-year longitudinal study of a population-based sample.

PubMed

McLaughlin, Margaret J; Speirs, Katherine E; Shenassa, Edmond D

2014-01-01

This study examined the impact of childhood reading disability (RD) on adult educational attainment and income. Participants' (N = 1,344) RD was assessed at age 7, and adult educational attainment and income were assessed in midlife using categorical variables. Participants with RD at age 7 were 74% (95% CI: 0.18, 0.37) less likely to attain a higher level of education and 56% (95% CI: 0.32, 0.61) less likely to attain a higher level of income as an adult than participants with average or above reading achievement at age 7. Attained education was found to mediate the relationship between RD and attained income. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2012.

Personal predictors of educational attainment after compulsory school: influence of measures of vulnerability, health, and school performance.

PubMed

Winding, Trine N; Nohr, Ellen A; Labriola, Merete; Biering, Karin; Andersen, Johan H

2013-02-01

Getting a secondary education is essential in preventing future inequalities in health and socioeconomic status. We investigated to what degree personal predictors like low school performance, high vulnerability, and poor health status are associated with not completing a secondary education in a Danish youth cohort. This prospective study used data from a questionnaire in 2004 and register data in 2010. The study population consisted of 3053 adolescents born in 1989. Information on educational attainment from Statistics Denmark was divided into four categories: completed, still studying, dropped out, or never attained a secondary education. Data was analysed using multinomial logistic regression. Low grades when completing compulsory school predicted not having completed a secondary education by age 20/21 (odds ratios (OR) between 1.7 and 2.5). Low sense of coherence in childhood was associated with dropping out from a vocational education (OR 2.0). Low general health status was associated with dropping out (OR 2.2) or never attaining a secondary education (OR 2.7) and overweight was associated with never attaining a secondary education (OR 3.5). The study confirms the social gradient in educational attainment. Furthermore, the results indicate that factors related to the individual in terms of low school performance, low health status, and high vulnerability predict future success in the educational system. It is recommended that these high-risk groups are recognised and targeted when designing guidance and supervision programmes for youth at secondary education.

The UKCAT-12 study: educational attainment, aptitude test performance, demographic and socio-economic contextual factors as predictors of first year outcome in a cross-sectional collaborative study of 12 UK medical schools

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Most UK medical schools use aptitude tests during student selection, but large-scale studies of predictive validity are rare. This study assesses the United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT), and its four sub-scales, along with measures of educational attainment, individual and contextual socio-economic background factors, as predictors of performance in the first year of medical school training. Methods A prospective study of 4,811 students in 12 UK medical schools taking the UKCAT from 2006 to 2008 as a part of the medical school application, for whom first year medical school examination results were available in 2008 to 2010. Results UKCAT scores and educational attainment measures (General Certificate of Education (GCE): A-levels, and so on; or Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA): Scottish Highers, and so on) were significant predictors of outcome. UKCAT predicted outcome better in female students than male students, and better in mature than non-mature students. Incremental validity of UKCAT taking educational attainment into account was significant, but small. Medical school performance was also affected by sex (male students performing less well), ethnicity (non-White students performing less well), and a contextual measure of secondary schooling, students from secondary schools with greater average attainment at A-level (irrespective of public or private sector) performing less well. Multilevel modeling showed no differences between medical schools in predictive ability of the various measures. UKCAT sub-scales predicted similarly, except that Verbal Reasoning correlated positively with performance on Theory examinations, but negatively with Skills assessments. Conclusions This collaborative study in 12 medical schools shows the power of large-scale studies of medical education for answering previously unanswerable but important questions about medical student selection, education and training. UKCAT has predictive validity as a

Effect of retention in elementary grades on grade 9 motivation for educational attainment.

PubMed

Cham, Heining; Hughes, Jan N; West, Stephen G; Im, Myung Hee

2015-02-01

This study investigated the effect of grade retention in elementary school on students' motivation for educational attainment in grade 9. We equated retained and promoted students on 67 covariates assessed in grade 1 through propensity score weighting. Retained students (31.55%, nretained=177) and continuously promoted students (68.45%, npromoted=384) were compared on the bifactor model of motivation for educational attainment (Cham, Hughes, West & Im, 2014). This model consists of a General factor (student's overall motivation for educational attainment), and three specific factors: student perceived Teacher Educational Expectations, Peer Educational Aspirations, and Value of Education. Measurement invariance between retained and promoted groups was established. Retained students scored significantly higher than promoted students on each specific factor but not on the General factor. Results showed that the retained and promoted students did not significantly differ on the General factor. The retained students had significantly higher scores on each specific factor than those of the promoted students. The results suggested that grade retention may not have the negative effects so widely assumed in the published literature; it is an expensive intervention with minimal evidence of benefits to the retained student. Copyright © 2014 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Educational Attainment and the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from the 1986 and 1991 Canadian Censuses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christie, Pamela; Shannon, Michael

2001-01-01

Uses Canadian census data to examine effects of gender differences in educational attainment on the gender earnings gap for full-time, full-year Canadian workers. These educational attainment differences account for virtually none of the gender earnings gap in 1985 and 1990. Gender differences in field of study matter somewhat more. (Contains 17…

Is there a relationship between elderly suicide rates and educational attainment? A cross-national study.

PubMed

Shah, Ajit; Chatterjee, Santanu

2008-11-01

Suicides are associated with both high and low levels of intelligence and educational attainment in both individual-level and aggregate-level studies, but this has been rarely studied in the elderly. A cross-national study examining the relationship between elderly suicide rates (y-axis) and educational attainment (x-axis) was undertaken with the 'a priori' hypothesis that the relationship would be curvilinear and follow a U-shaped curve with the quadratic equation Y = A + BX + CX(2), where A, B and C are constants. Data on suicide rates for both sexes in the age-bands 65-74 years and 75+ years, and the Education Index (a proxy measure of educational attainment) were ascertained from the World Health Organisation and the United Nations websites, respectively. The main finding was the predicted curvilinear relationship between suicide rates, in both sexes in both the elderly age-bands, and the Education Index fitting the quadratic equation Y = A + BX + CX(2). Given the cross-sectional study design, a causal relationship cannot be assumed. The impact of educational attainment on elderly suicide rates may occur through interaction with other factors, mediation of the effects of other factors, or by its effects being mediated by other factors, and require further study.

Subnational Variations in Educational Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes. Education Indicators in Focus. No. 43

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing, 2016

2016-01-01

Significant variations in educational attainment and labour market outcomes exist not only across OECD countries but also within them. Some regions concentrate the human capital of a country. In particular, many countries' capital regions stand out for their high share of tertiary-educated people. However, overall employment prospects are often…

FACT SHEET ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF NONWHITE WOMEN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Women's Bureau (DOL), Washington, DC.

NONWHITE WOMEN AND MEN HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN RAISING THEIR LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OVER THE LAST SEVERAL DECADES. THE MEDIAN YEARS OF SCHOOL COMPLETED BY NONWHITE WOMEN AND MEN 25 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN MARCH 1966 WERE 9.6 YEARS AND 8.8 YEARS RESPECTIVELY. COMPARABLE MEDIANS IN APRIL 1940 WERE 6.1 YEARS AND 5.4 YEARS. MOST…

Does Grading Affect Educational Attainment? A Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klapp, Alli

2015-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate how grading in primary school affected students' achievement measured by grades in 7th, 8th and 9th Grade and educational attainment in upper secondary school (12th Grade), and how the effect varied as a function of students' cognitive ability, gender and socio-economic status. The data derived from the…

Childhood Adversities and Educational Attainment in Young Adulthood: The Role of Mental Health Problems in Adolescence.

PubMed

Veldman, Karin; Bültmann, Ute; Almansa, Josue; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

2015-11-01

The aims of this study were to examine whether the association between childhood adversities and educational attainment in young adulthood can be explained by mental health problems in adolescence and whether associations and pathways differ for boys and girls. Data were used of 2,230 participants from the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey, a Dutch prospective cohort study with a 9-year follow-up. Childhood adversities were measured at age 11 years, mental health problems (i.e., externalizing, internalizing and attention problems with Youth Self-Report) at age 16 years, and educational attainment at age 19 years. Structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data, overall and stratified by gender. Only among boys, childhood adversities were associated with low educational attainment in young adulthood. Externalizing problems in adolescence explained 5% of the association between childhood adversities and educational attainment. Furthermore, for both boys and girls, externalizing problems in adolescence had a direct effect on educational attainment in young adulthood. Among boys, childhood adversities are associated with poorer educational outcomes of young adults. A part of this association runs via adolescent externalizing problems. The results suggest that boys, compared with girls, are less capable to cope with childhood adversities. Monitoring of exposed boys to childhood adversities is of utmost importance. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Educational Attainments of Immigrant Offspring: Success or Segmented Assimilation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Monica

2002-01-01

Examined the educational attainments of adult offspring of immigrants age 20-64 years, analyzing data from Canada's 1996 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. Contrary to second generation decline and segmented underclass assimilation found in the United States, Canadian adult visible-minority immigrant offspring did not have lower educational…

Gender-Specific Trends in Educational Attainment and Self-Rated Health, 1972–2002

PubMed Central

Hill, Terrence D.; Needham, Belinda L.

2006-01-01

Objectives. We tested whether self-rated health has improved over time (1972–2002) for women and men. We also considered the degree to which historical gains in educational attainment help to explain any observed trends. Methods. Using 21 years of repeated cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey, we estimated a series of ordered logistic regression models predicting self-rated health. Results. Our results show that women’s health status has steadily improved over the 30-year period under study, and these improvements are largely explained by gains in educational attainment. We also found that the health trend for men is nonlinear, suggesting significant fluctuations in health status over time. Conclusions. Based on the linear health status trend and strong mediation pattern for women, and the nonlinear health status trend for men, women have benefited more than men, in terms of self-rated health, from increased educational attainment. PMID:16735623

Funding and the Attainment of Transformation Goals in South Africa's Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wangenge-Ouma, Gerald

2010-01-01

The link between the funding of higher education and the attainment of higher education transformation goals in South Africa, especially access by students from previously under-represented communities, is the main focus of this paper. Specifically, the paper examines three questions: (a) How does public funding of higher education encourage (or…

Parental Educational Attainment and Offspring Subjective Well-being and Self-Beliefs in Older Adulthood.

PubMed

Sutin, Angelina R; Stephan, Yannick; Terracciano, Antonio

2018-07-01

This research examines whether parental educational attainment and subjective childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with adult offspring well-being and self-beliefs (broadly defined). Participants from the Health and Retirement Study were included if they completed the leave-behind questionnaire in 2006 or 2008 ( N =10,827; M age =68.38; SD =9.81; range=50-101). Participants reported on their own and both parents educational attainment, subjective childhood financial situation, and financial difficulties in childhood at study entry and on well-being in 2006/2008. Linear regression was used to examine the association between offspring education, parental education, childhood SES and three aspects of well-being and self-beliefs: positive affect (e.g., positive emotions, optimism), negative affect (e.g., loneliness, hostility), and cognitive evaluation (e.g., life satisfaction). Participants with more education reported higher well-being (median β=.12). Parental educational attainment, subjective childhood SES, and a significant financial event during childhood were associated with more positive affect, less negative affect, and higher life satisfaction (median β=.05); these associations held controlling for offspring education. The educational and financial environment of childhood may hamper well-being into older adulthood; the offspring's own experiences and achievements do not completely attenuate the association with these aspects of the childhood environment.

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Educational Attainment in Australia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Paul; Mulvey, Charles; Martin, Nick

2001-01-01

Data from a large sample of Australian twins indicate that 50 to 65 percent of variance in educational attainments can be attributed to genetic endowments. Only about 25 to 40 percent may be due to environmental factors, depending on adjustments for measurement error and assortative mating. (Contains 51 references.) (MLH)

Field Theory in Cultural Capital Studies of Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krarup, Troels; Munk, Martin D.

2016-01-01

This article argues that there is a double problem in international research in cultural capital and educational attainment: an empirical problem, since few new insights have been gained within recent years; and a theoretical problem, since cultural capital is seen as a simple hypothesis about certain isolated individual resources, disregarding…

The Heterogeneous Impacts of Business Cycles on Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boffy-Ramirez, Ernest

2017-01-01

This study examines the impact of fluctuations in the unemployment rate before high school graduation on educational attainment measured 30 years later. I find evidence that important heterogeneity is masked by estimating average effects across the ability distribution. Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this analysis…

Teenage Career Aspirations and Adult Career Attainment: The Role of Gender, Social Background and General Cognitive Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoon, Ingrid; Polek, Elzbieta

2011-01-01

In this paper we examine the associations between gender, family background, general cognitive ability (g), teenage career aspirations, and career attainment in mid adulthood drawing on two large representative samples of the British population born in 1958 (N = 6,474) and in 1970 (N = 5,081). A developmental-contextual model of career development…

Changes in college attainment and the economic returns to a college degree in urban China, 2003-2010: implications for social equality.

PubMed

Hu, Anning; Hibel, Jacob

2014-03-01

Expansion of higher education is expected to reduce social inequality under the conditions that (1) higher education should become increasingly egalitarian; (2) educational attainment should be the main determinant of class destinations; and (3) individuals from different social backgrounds should benefit from higher education homogeneously. Using representative data collected in mainland China from 2003 to 2010, we find (1) social background factors, especially parents' education, are significantly associated with the opportunity of completing college across periods; (2) the economic returns to a college degree have been longitudinally increasing; and (3) for both 2003 and 2010, people from different social origins benefit from higher education attainment in a homogeneous way. An overall assessment of the findings suggests that changes in college attainment and the returns to higher education in urban China are not in favor of the promotion of general social equality, but maintain the existing extent of inequality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Educational Attainment and Smoking Status in a National Sample of American Adults; Evidence for the Blacks' Diminished Return.

PubMed

Assari, Shervin; Mistry, Ritesh

2018-04-16

Although higher socioeconomic status (SES) indicators such as educational attainment are linked with health behaviors, the Blacks’ Diminished Return theory posits that the protective effects of SES are systemically smaller for Blacks than Whites. To explore the Black/White differences in the association between education and smoking. This cross-sectional study used the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2017 ( n = 3217). HINTS is a national survey of American adults. The current analysis included 2277 adults who were either Whites ( n = 1868; 82%) or Blacks ( n = 409; 18%). The independent variable was educational attainment, and the dependent variables were ever and current (past 30-day) smoking. Demographic factors (age and gender) were covariates. Race was the focal moderator. In the pooled sample, higher educational attainment was associated with lower odds of ever and current smoking. Race interacted with the effects of higher educational attainment on current smoking, suggesting a stronger protective effect of higher education against current smoking for Whites than Blacks. Race did not interact with the effect of educational attainment on odds of ever smoking. In line with previous research in the United States, education is more strongly associated with health and health behaviors in Whites than Blacks. Smaller protective effects of education on health behaviors may be due to the existing racism across institutions such as the education system and labor market.

Food insecurity, school absenteeism and educational attainment of adolescents in Jimma Zone Southwest Ethiopia: a longitudinal study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Food insecurity not only affects physical growth and health of children but also their intellectual development, school attendance and academic performance. However, most evidences are based on studies in high income countries. Although food insecurity is common in Ethiopia, to what extent it affects school attendance and educational attainment of adolescents is not explored. We hypothesized that food insecure adolescents would be more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades attained after 1 year compared to their food secure peers. Methods We used data from 2009 adolescents in the age group of 13-17 years from two consecutive surveys of a five year longitudinal family study in Southwest Ethiopia. A stratified random sampling was used to select participants. Regression analyses were used to compare school absenteeism and the highest grade attained after 1 year of follow-up in food secure and insecure adolescents. The analysis was adjusted for demographic factors, reported illness and workload. Results Significantly more (33.0%) food insecure adolescents were absent from school compared with their food secure peers (17.8%, P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that after adjusting for gender, place of residence and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity [OR 1.77 (1.34-2.33)], severe household food insecurity [OR 1.62 (1.27-2.06)], illness during the past one month before the survey [OR 2.26 (1.68-3.06)], the highest grade aspired to be completed by the adolescent [OR 0.92 (0.88-0.96)], and the number of days that the adolescent had to work per week [OR 1.16 (1.07-1.26)] were independent predictors of school absenteeism. Similarly after controlling for household income and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity(P < 0.001), severe household food insecurity(P < 0.001), illness during the last month(P < 0.001) and rural residence(P < 0.001) were inversely associated with highest grade

The Implications of Adult Identity for Educational and Work Attainment in Young Adulthood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benson, Janel E.; Johnson, Monica Kirkpatrick; Elder, Glen H., Jr.

2012-01-01

This study investigates the relation of young adult identities (ages 18-22 years), reflecting subjective age and psychosocial maturity, to educational and career attainment in young adulthood (ages 25-29 years). Add Health data show that having an older subjective age alone does not curtail attainment; the critical issue is the level of…

Gifted Students from Low-Education Backgrounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Melinda M.; Pelchar, Taylor K.; Cochran, Jeff L.

2012-01-01

Gifted children from low-education backgrounds often experience barriers to educational and career success. This article reviews the growing body of literature regarding gifted students from low-education backgrounds and the related literature on the challenges and characteristics of first-generation college students. A mother and daughter…

Educational Attainment and Egalitarian Attitudes toward Women in the MENA Region: Insights from the Arab Barometer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auletto, Amy; Kim, Taeyeon; Marias, Rachel

2017-01-01

Despite increasingly egalitarian attitudes toward women in the Middle East and North Africa, nations in this region continue to rank among the lowest in measures of gender equality. Using survey data, we examine the relationship between educational attainment and support for women. We find that increased educational attainment is predictive of…

Genetic variation associated with differential educational attainment in adults has anticipated associations with school performance in children.

PubMed

Ward, Mary E; McMahon, George; St Pourcain, Beate; Evans, David M; Rietveld, Cornelius A; Benjamin, Daniel J; Koellinger, Philipp D; Cesarini, David; Davey Smith, George; Timpson, Nicholas J

2014-01-01

Genome-wide association study results have yielded evidence for the association of common genetic variants with crude measures of completed educational attainment in adults. Whilst informative, these results do not inform as to the mechanism of these effects or their presence at earlier ages and where educational performance is more routinely and more precisely assessed. Single nucleotide polymorphisms exhibiting genome-wide significant associations with adult educational attainment were combined to derive an unweighted allele score in 5,979 and 6,145 young participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with key stage 3 national curriculum test results (SATS results) available at age 13 to 14 years in English and mathematics respectively. Standardised (z-scored) results for English and mathematics showed an expected relationship with sex, with girls exhibiting an advantage over boys in English (0.433 SD (95%CI 0.395, 0.470), p<10(-10)) with more similar results (though in the opposite direction) in mathematics (0.042 SD (95%CI 0.004, 0.080), p = 0.030). Each additional adult educational attainment increasing allele was associated with 0.041 SD (95%CI 0.020, 0.063), p = 1.79×10(-04) and 0.028 SD (95%CI 0.007, 0.050), p = 0.01 increases in standardised SATS score for English and mathematics respectively. Educational attainment is a complex multifactorial behavioural trait which has not had heritable contributions to it fully characterised. We were able to apply the results from a large study of adult educational attainment to a study of child exam performance marking events in the process of learning rather than realised adult end product. Our results support evidence for common, small genetic contributions to educational attainment, but also emphasise the likely lifecourse nature of this genetic effect. Results here also, by an alternative route, suggest that existing methods for child examination are able to recognise early life

Genetic Variation Associated with Differential Educational Attainment in Adults Has Anticipated Associations with School Performance in Children

PubMed Central

Ward, Mary E.; McMahon, George; St Pourcain, Beate; Evans, David M.; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Benjamin, Daniel J.; Koellinger, Philipp D.; Cesarini, David; Smith, George Davey; Timpson, Nicholas J.

2014-01-01

Genome-wide association study results have yielded evidence for the association of common genetic variants with crude measures of completed educational attainment in adults. Whilst informative, these results do not inform as to the mechanism of these effects or their presence at earlier ages and where educational performance is more routinely and more precisely assessed. Single nucleotide polymorphisms exhibiting genome-wide significant associations with adult educational attainment were combined to derive an unweighted allele score in 5,979 and 6,145 young participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with key stage 3 national curriculum test results (SATS results) available at age 13 to 14 years in English and mathematics respectively. Standardised (z-scored) results for English and mathematics showed an expected relationship with sex, with girls exhibiting an advantage over boys in English (0.433 SD (95%CI 0.395, 0.470), p<10−10) with more similar results (though in the opposite direction) in mathematics (0.042 SD (95%CI 0.004, 0.080), p = 0.030). Each additional adult educational attainment increasing allele was associated with 0.041 SD (95%CI 0.020, 0.063), p = 1.79×10−04 and 0.028 SD (95%CI 0.007, 0.050), p = 0.01 increases in standardised SATS score for English and mathematics respectively. Educational attainment is a complex multifactorial behavioural trait which has not had heritable contributions to it fully characterised. We were able to apply the results from a large study of adult educational attainment to a study of child exam performance marking events in the process of learning rather than realised adult end product. Our results support evidence for common, small genetic contributions to educational attainment, but also emphasise the likely lifecourse nature of this genetic effect. Results here also, by an alternative route, suggest that existing methods for child examination are able to recognise early life

The educational background and qualifications of UK medical students from ethnic minorities

PubMed Central

McManus, IC; Woolf, Katherine; Dacre, Jane

2008-01-01

Background UK medical students and doctors from ethnic minorities underperform in undergraduate and postgraduate examinations. Although it is assumed that white (W) and non-white (NW) students enter medical school with similar qualifications, neither the qualifications of NW students, nor their educational background have been looked at in detail. This study uses two large-scale databases to examine the educational attainment of W and NW students. Methods Attainment at GCSE and A level, and selection for medical school in relation to ethnicity, were analysed in two separate databases. The 10th cohort of the Youth Cohort Study provided data on 13,698 students taking GCSEs in 1999 in England and Wales, and their subsequent progression to A level. UCAS provided data for 1,484,650 applicants applying for admission to UK universities and colleges in 2003, 2004 and 2005, of whom 52,557 applied to medical school, and 23,443 were accepted. Results NW students achieve lower grades at GCSE overall, although achievement at the highest grades was similar to that of W students. NW students have higher educational aspirations, being more likely to go on to take A levels, especially in science and particularly chemistry, despite relatively lower achievement at GCSE. As a result, NW students perform less well at A level than W students, and hence NW students applying to university also have lower A-level grades than W students, both generally, and for medical school applicants. NW medical school entrants have lower A level grades than W entrants, with an effect size of about -0.10. Conclusion The effect size for the difference between white and non-white medical school entrants is about B0.10, which would mean that for a typical medical school examination there might be about 5 NW failures for each 4 W failures. However, this effect can only explain a portion of the overall effect size found in undergraduate and postgraduate examinations of about -0.32. PMID:18416818

Low levels of food involvement and negative affect reduce the quality of diet in women of lower educational attainment.

PubMed

Jarman, M; Lawrence, W; Ntani, G; Tinati, T; Pease, A; Black, C; Baird, J; Barker, M

2012-10-01

Women of lower educational attainment tend to have poorer quality diets and lower food involvement (an indicator of the priority given to food) than women of higher educational attainment. The present study reports a study of the role of food involvement in the relationship between educational attainment and quality of diet in young women. The first phase uses six focus group discussions (n = 28) to explore the function of food involvement in shaping the food choices of women of lower and higher educational attainment with young children. The second phase is a survey that examines the relationship between educational attainment and quality of diet in women, and explores the role of mediating factors identified by the focus group discussions. The focus groups suggested that lower food involvement in women of lower educational attainment might be associated with negative affect (i.e. an observable expression of negative emotion), and that this might mean that they did not place a high priority on eating a good quality diet. In support of this hypothesis, the survey of 1010 UK women found that 14% of the effect of educational attainment on food involvement was mediated through the woman's affect (P ≤ 0.001), and that 9% of the effect of educational attainment on quality of diet was mediated through food involvement (P ≤ 0.001). Women who leave school with fewer qualifications may have poorer quality diets than women with more qualifications because they tend to have a lower level of food involvement, partly attributed to a more negative affect. Interventions to improve women's mood may benefit their quality of diet. © 2012 The Authors Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2012 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

How Did the Increase in Economic Inequality between 1970 and 1990 Affect American Children's Educational Attainment?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayer, Susan E.

This paper estimates the effect of the growth in income inequality on mean educational attainment and on the disparity in educational attainment between rich and poor children. The effect of income inequality that is due to the nonlinear effect of a family's own income is separated from the effect due to interpersonal interactions. Data from the…

Educational Attainment and Mortality in the United States: Effects of Degrees, Years of Schooling, and Certification

PubMed Central

Lawrence, Elizabeth M.; Rogers, Richard G.; Zajacova, Anna

2016-01-01

Researchers have extensively documented a strong and consistent education gradient for mortality, with more highly educated individuals living longer than those with less education. This study contributes to our understanding of the education-mortality relationship by determining the effects of years of education and degree attainment on mortality, and by including nondegree certification, an important but understudied dimension of educational attainment. We use data from the mortality-linked restricted-use files of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) sample (N=9,821) and Cox proportional hazards models to estimate mortality risk among U.S. adults. Results indicate that more advanced degrees and additional years of education are associated with reduced mortality risk in separate models, but when included simultaneously, only degrees remain influential. Among individuals who have earned a high school diploma only, additional years of schooling (beyond 12) and vocational school certification (or similar accreditation) are both independently associated with reduced risks of death. Degrees appear to be most important for increasing longevity; the findings also suggest that any educational experience can be beneficial. Future research in health and mortality should consider including educational measures beyond a single variable for educational attainment. PMID:27482124

Effects of neighbourhood-level educational attainment on HIV prevalence among young women in Zambia.

PubMed

Kayeyi, Nkomba; Sandøy, Ingvild F; Fylkesnes, Knut

2009-08-25

Investigations of the association between socio-economic position indicators and HIV in East, Central and Southern Africa have chiefly focused on factors that pertain to individual-level characteristics. This study investigated the effect of neighbourhood educational attainment on HIV prevalence among young women in selected urban and rural areas in Zambia. This study re-analysed data from a cross-sectional population survey conducted in Zambia in 2003. The analyses were restricted to women aged 15-24 years (n = 1295). Stratified random cluster sampling was used to select 10 urban and 10 rural clusters. A measure for neighbourhood-level educational attainment was constructed by aggregating individual-level years-in-school. Multi-level mixed effects regression models were run to examine the neighbourhood-level educational effect on HIV prevalence after adjusting for individual-level underlying variables (education, currently a student, marital status) and selected proximate determinants (ever given birth, sexual activity, lifetime sexual partners). HIV prevalence among young women aged 15-24 years was 12.5% in the urban and 6.8% in the rural clusters. Neighbourhood educational attainment was found to be a strong determinant of HIV infection in both urban and rural population, i.e. HIV prevalence decreased substantially by increasing level of neighbourhood education. The likelihood of infection in low vs. high educational attainment of neighbourhoods was 3.4 times among rural women and 1.8 times higher among the urban women after adjusting for age and other individual-level underlying variables, including education. However, the association was not significant for urban young women after this adjustment. After adjusting for level of education in the neighbourhood, the effect of the individual-level education differed by residence, i.e. a strong protective effect among urban women whereas tending to be a risk factor among rural women. The findings suggested structural

Reducing Risk for Substance Use by Economically Disadvantaged Young Men: Positive Family Environments and Pathways to Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Martin, Monica J.; Conger, Rand D.; Sitnick, Stephanie L.; Masarik, April S.; Forbes, Erika E.; Shaw, Daniel S.

2015-01-01

Using prospective, longitudinal data spanning 10 years (age 10 to 20) from a study of 295 economically disadvantaged males, the current investigation evaluated a developmental model that links early family environment and later educational aspirations, extracurricular activities, and educational attainment to substance use in early adulthood. The results indicate that a positive family environment during adolescence (low family conflict, high family warmth, and effective child management) predicted educational involvements during adolescence that promoted educational attainment during early adulthood. Finally, higher levels of educational attainment were associated with less substance use in early adulthood, even after controlling for adolescent substance use. These findings suggest that positive parenting promotes educational achievements that increase resilience to substance use for economically disadvantaged males. PMID:26307026

Family Dynamics, Gender Differences and Educational Attainment in Filipino Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hindin, M.J.

2005-01-01

The relationship between parenting style, marital relationships and subsequent educational attainment is explored among 1428 Filipino adolescents attending school in 1994 and 1096 attending school in 1999. Girls in households where their fathers physically abused their mothers were significantly less likely to complete primary school, and girls…

A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Exploring How the Arrangement of Higher Education Governance Shapes the Contribution of Two-Year Institutions to State Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Carol Cutler

2016-01-01

Two-year institutions of higher education are critical to state educational attainment (Auguste, Cota, Kartik, & Laboissiere, 2010; Wildavsky, Kelly, & Carey, 2011c), but the institutions may be hindered in contributing to attainment increases by the arrangement of governance (McLendon & Ness, 2003). The purpose of the study was to…

The relationship between educational attainment and waiting time among the elderly in Norway.

PubMed

Carlsen, Fredrik; Kaarboe, Oddvar Martin

2015-11-01

We investigate whether educational attainment affects waiting time of elderly patients in somatic hospitals. We consider three distinct pathways; that patients with different educational attainment have different disease patterns, that patients with different levels of education receive treatments at different hospitals, and that patient choice and supply of local health services within hospital catchment areas explain unequal waiting time of different educational groups. We find evidence of an educational gradient in waiting time for male patients, but not for female patients. Conditional on age, male patients with tertiary education wait 45% shorter than male patients with secondary or primary education. The first pathway is not quantitatively important as controlling for disease patters has little effect on relative waiting times. The second pathway is important. Relative to patients with primary education, variation in waiting time and education level across local hospitals contributes to higher waiting time for male patients with secondary education and female patients with secondary or tertiary education and lower waiting time for male patients with tertiary education. These effects are in the order of 15-20%. The third pathway is also quantitatively important. The educational gradients within catchment areas disappear when we control for travel distance and supply of private specialists. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship between Brain Age-Related Reduction in Gray Matter and Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Rzezak, Patricia; Squarzoni, Paula; Duran, Fabio L.; de Toledo Ferraz Alves, Tania; Tamashiro-Duran, Jaqueline; Bottino, Cassio M.; Ribeiz, Salma; Lotufo, Paulo A.; Menezes, Paulo R.; Scazufca, Marcia; Busatto, Geraldo F.

2015-01-01

Inter-subject variability in age-related brain changes may relate to educational attainment, as suggested by cognitive reserve theories. This voxel-based morphometry study investigated the impact of very low educational level on the relationship between regional gray matter (rGM) volumes and age in healthy elders. Magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in elders with low educational attainment (less than 4 years) (n = 122) and high educational level (n = 66), pulling together individuals examined using either of three MRI scanners/acquisition protocols. Voxelwise group comparisons showed no rGM differences (p<0.05, family-wise error corrected for multiple comparisons). When within-group voxelwise patterns of linear correlation were compared between high and low education groups, there was one cluster of greater rGM loss with aging in low versus high education elders in the left anterior cingulate cortex (p<0.05, FWE-corrected), as well as a trend in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (p<0.10). These results provide preliminary indication that education might exert subtle protective effects against age-related brain changes in healthy subjects. The anterior cingulate cortex, critical to inhibitory control processes, may be particularly sensitive to such effects, possibly given its involvement in cognitive stimulating activities at school or later throughout life. PMID:26474472

Association between breastfeeding and intelligence, educational attainment, and income at 30 years of age: a prospective birth cohort study from Brazil

PubMed Central

Victora, Cesar G; Horta, Bernardo Lessa; de Mola, Christian Loret; Quevedo, Luciana; Pinheiro, Ricardo Tavares; Gigante, Denise P; Gonçalves, Helen; Barros, Fernando C

2015-01-01

Summary Background Breastfeeding has clear short-term benefits, but its long-term consequences on human capital are yet to be established. We aimed to assess whether breastfeeding duration was associated with intelligence quotient (IQ), years of schooling, and income at the age of 30 years, in a setting where no strong social patterning of breastfeeding exists. Methods A prospective, population-based birth cohort study of neonates was launched in 1982 in Pelotas, Brazil. Information about breastfeeding was recorded in early childhood. At 30 years of age, we studied the IQ (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd version), educational attainment, and income of the participants. For the analyses, we used multiple linear regression with adjustment for ten confounding variables and the G-formula. Findings From June 4, 2012, to Feb 28, 2013, of the 5914 neonates enrolled, information about IQ and breastfeeding duration was available for 3493 participants. In the crude and adjusted analyses, the durations of total breastfeeding and predominant breastfeeding (breastfeeding as the main form of nutrition with some other foods) were positively associated with IQ, educational attainment, and income. We identified dose-response associations with breastfeeding duration for IQ and educational attainment. In the confounder-adjusted analysis, participants who were breastfed for 12 months or more had higher IQ scores (difference of 3·76 points, 95% CI 2·20–5·33), more years of education (0·91 years, 0·42–1·40), and higher monthly incomes (341·0 Brazilian reals, 93·8–588·3) than did those who were breastfed for less than 1 month. The results of our mediation analysis suggested that IQ was responsible for 72% of the effect on income. Interpretation Breastfeeding is associated with improved performance in intelligence tests 30 years later, and might have an important effect in real life, by increasing educational attainment and income in adulthood. Funding Wellcome Trust

Lonely Schools: The Relationship between Geographic Isolation and Academic Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odell, Evan

2017-01-01

Background: School improvement initiatives in England have focused on urban areas, which have traditionally been home to larger numbers of poor and underperforming pupils. Previous research has found that rural regions of the country have had higher overall educational attainment due to their greater affluence. However, that broad picture could be…

Does educational attainment increase the risk of low back pain when genetics are considered? A population-based study of Spanish twins.

PubMed

Zadro, Joshua R; Shirley, Debra; Pinheiro, Marina B; Sánchez-Romera, Juan F; Pérez-Riquelme, Francisco; Ordoñana, Juan R; Ferreira, Paulo H

2017-04-01

There is limited research investigating educational attainment as a risk factor for low back pain (LBP), with the influence of gender commonly being neglected. Furthermore, genetics and early shared environment explain a substantial proportion of LBP cases and need to be controlled for when investigating risk factors for LBP. To investigate whether educational attainment affects the prevalence and risk of LBP differently in men and women while controlling for the influence of genetics and early shared environment. This is a cross-sectional and prospective twin case-control study. Adult monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from the Murcia Twin Registry, with available data on educational attainment, formed the base sample for this study. The prevalence analysis considered twins with available data on LBP in 2013 (n=1,580). The longitudinal analysis considered twins free of LBP at baseline (2009-2011), with available data on LBP at follow-up (2013) (n=1,077). Data on the lifetime prevalence of activity limiting LBP (outcome) and educational attainment (risk factor) were self-reported. The prevalence analysis investigated the cross-sectional association between educational attainment and LBP, whereas the longitudinal analysis investigated whether educational attainment increased the risk of developing LBP. Both analyses were performed in the following sequence. First, a total sample analysis was performed on all twins (considering them as individuals), adjusting for confounding variables selected by the data. Second, to control for the influence of genetics and early shared environment, a within-pair case-control analysis (stratified by zygosity) was performed on complete twin pairs discordant for LBP (ie, one twin had LBP, whereas the co-twin did not). All analyses were stratified for gender where possible, with an interaction term determining whether gender was a significant moderator of the association between educational attainment and LBP. Women with either

Maternal Educational Attainment at Birth Promotes Future Self-Rated Health of White but Not Black Youth: A 15-Year Cohort of a National Sample.

PubMed

Assari, Shervin; Caldwell, Cleopatra Howard; Mincy, Ronald B

2018-05-01

Socioeconomic status (SES) is essential for maintaining health, and self-rated health (SRH) is not an exception to this rule. This study explored racial differences in the protective effects of maternal educational attainment at birth against poor SRH of the youth 15 years later. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this 15-year longitudinal study followed 1934 youths from birth to age 15. This sample was composed of White ( n = 497, 25.7%), and Black ( n = 1437, 74.3%) youths. The independent variable was maternal educational attainment at birth. SRH at age 15 was the dependent variable. Family structure was the covariate. Race was the focal moderator. We ran logistic regression models in the pooled sample, as well as stratified models based on race. In the pooled sample, maternal educational attainment and family structure were not predictive of SRH for the youths at age 15. Race interacted with maternal educational attainment, indicating a stronger association between maternal educational attainment at birth on youth SRH for Whites compared to Blacks. In race stratified models, maternal educational attainment at birth was protective against poor SRH for White but not Black youths. White but not Black youths gain less SRH from their maternal educational attainment. Enhancing education attainment may not have identical effects across racial groups. The health status of Blacks may be less responsive to improvements in maternal educational attainment. Policies should go beyond investing in educational attainment by empowering Black families to better use the educational attainment that they gain. Policies and programs should reduce the costs of upward social mobility for minority families.

The Traditional Approach to Developmental Education: Background and Effectiveness. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horn, Aaron S.; Asmussen, John G.

2014-01-01

A significant challenge in higher education is to narrow the educational attainment gap between academically prepared and unprepared students. To this end, developmental or remedial education is intended to improve the academic skills and knowledge of students who are unprepared for undergraduate coursework, particularly in the areas of…

The black gender gap in educational attainment: historical trends and racial comparisons.

PubMed

McDaniel, Anne; DiPrete, Thomas A; Buchmann, Claudia; Shwed, Uri

2011-08-01

It is often asserted that the gender gap in educational attainment is larger for blacks than whites, but historical trends comparing the black and white gender gap have received surprisingly little attention. Analysis of historical data from the U.S. census IPUMS samples shows that the gender gap in college completion has evolved differently for whites and blacks. Historically, the female advantage in educational attainment among blacks is linked to more favorable labor market opportunities and stronger incentives for employment for educated black women. Blacks, particularly black males, still lag far behind whites in their rates of college completion, but the striking educational gains of white women have caused the racial patterns of gender differences in college completion rates to grow more similar over time. While some have linked the disadvantaged position of black males to their high risk of incarceration, our estimates suggest that incarceration has a relatively small impact on the black gender gap and the racial gap in college completion rates for males in the United States.

Self-verification as a mediator of mothers' self-fulfilling effects on adolescents' educational attainment.

PubMed

Scherr, Kyle C; Madon, Stephanie; Guyll, Max; Willard, Jennifer; Spoth, Richard

2011-05-01

This research examined whether self-verification acts as a general mediational process of self-fulfilling prophecies. The authors tested this hypothesis by examining whether self-verification processes mediated self-fulfilling prophecy effects within a different context and with a different belief and a different outcome than has been used in prior research. Results of longitudinal data obtained from mothers and their adolescents (N=332) indicated that mothers' beliefs about their adolescents' educational outcomes had a significant indirect effect on adolescents' academic attainment through adolescents' educational aspirations. This effect, observed over a 6-year span, provided evidence that mothers' self-fulfilling effects occurred, in part, because mothers' false beliefs influenced their adolescents' own educational aspirations, which adolescents then self-verified through their educational attainment. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Self-Verification as a Mediator of Mothers’ Self-Fulfilling Effects on Adolescents’ Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Scherr, Kyle C.; Madon, Stephanie; Guyll, Max; Willard, Jennifer; Spoth, Richard

2013-01-01

This research examined whether self-verification acts as a general mediational process of self-fulfilling prophecies. The authors tested this hypothesis by examining whether self-verification processes mediated self-fulfilling prophecy effects within a different context and with a different belief and a different outcome than has been used in prior research. Results of longitudinal data obtained from mothers and their adolescents (N = 332) indicated that mothers’ beliefs about their adolescents’ educational outcomes had a significant indirect effect on adolescents’ academic attainment through adolescents’ educational aspirations. This effect, observed over a six year span, provided evidence that mothers’ self-fulfilling effects occurred, in part, because mothers’ false beliefs influenced their adolescents’ own educational aspirations which adolescents then self-verified through their educational attainment. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:21357755

Education attainment is associated with patient-reported outcomes: findings from the Swedish Hip Arthroplasty Register.

PubMed

Greene, Meridith E; Rolfson, Ola; Nemes, Szilard; Gordon, Max; Malchau, Henrik; Garellick, Göran

2014-06-01

Age, sex, and medical comorbidities may be associated with differences in patient-reported outcome scores after THA. Highest level of education may be a surrogate for socioeconomic status, but the degree to which this is associated with patient-reported outcomes after THA is not known. We investigated the national Swedish Hip Arthroplasty Register for the association of education attainment on patient-reported outcomes 1 year after THA; specifically, we evaluated level of education attainment against health-related quality of life (HRQoL), pain reduction, and satisfaction with treatment 1 year after THA. All THAs for osteoarthritis performed from 2005 through 2007 with complete patient-reported outcome measures (representing 49% of the THAs performed for this diagnosis) were selected from the Swedish Hip Arthroplasty Register. These cases were merged with national databases containing education attainment, marital status, and comorbidities (n = 11,464; mean age of patients, 64 years). The patient-reported outcome measure protocol included the HRQoL measure EuroQol five-dimension scale (EQ-5D), a VAS for pain, the Charnley classification survey, and a VAS addressing THA satisfaction. Linear regression analyses determined the association of preoperative patient factors with patient-reported outcomes. High education attainment was associated with higher HRQoL (EQ-5D index ß(high) = 0.03 ± 0.01; EQ VAS ß(high) = 2.6 ± 0.5) after THA, whereas those with low and medium education were at risk for lower HRQoL. High education was associated with less pain after treatment (ß(high) = -3.3 ± 0.05). Individuals with low or medium education were at risk for less satisfaction with THA (p < 0.001). Our results suggest clinicians should support patients with low and medium education to a greater extent. Identification of patients who will benefit most from THA and educating those at risk for poorer outcomes, like patients with low and medium education, ultimately may improve

The Impact of Repealing Sunday Closing Laws on Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Dara N.

2013-01-01

Adolescents face daily tradeoffs between human capital investment, labor, and leisure. This paper exploits state variation in the repeal of Sunday closing laws to examine the impact of a distinct and plausibly exogenous rise in the quantity of competing diversions available to youth on their educational attainment. The results suggest that the…

Comparing the Gender Gap in Educational Attainment: The Impact of Emancipatory Contexts in 33 Cohorts across 33 Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Hek, Margriet; Kraaykamp, Gerbert; Wolbers, Maarten H. J.

2016-01-01

Nowadays, women outperform men in educational attainment in many countries. Still, large variation between countries remains. Emancipatory contexts in which individuals are raised might explain these differences in male-female educational attainment, both over time and across countries. This study examines individual and contextual factors that…

The Influence of Closing Poor Performing Primary Schools on the Educational Attainment of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Witte, Kristof; Van Klaveren, Chris

2014-01-01

This paper examines whether the closure of poor performing primary schools improved students' educational attainment. It is believed that school closure affects children's educational outcomes positively because children switch to better primary schools. At the same time, school closure creates a social disturbance such that educational outcomes…

The influence of ethnicity and adverse life experiences during adolescence on young adult socioeconomic attainment: the moderating role of education.

PubMed

Wickrama, K A S; Simons, Leslie Gordon; Baltimore, Diana

2012-11-01

Previous research has documented that adverse life experiences during adolescence, particularly for ethnic minorities, have a long-term influence on income and asset attainment and that this relationship is largely mediated by educational achievement. We extend prior research by investigating three research questions. First, we investigate the extent to which community disadvantage, family factors and race/ethnicity each exert an independent influence on young adult socioeconomic attainment. Second, we examine whether youths' educational attainment mediates these independent influences on socioeconomic attainment. Third, we test whether educational attainment ameliorates the negative influences of disadvantaged community and family conditions and race/ethnicity on socioeconomic attainment. We address these questions using multilevel modeling with longitudinal, prospective data from Waves 1 and 4 of National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which has a nationally representative sample of adolescents (N = 13, 450; 53 % females). Regarding our first research question, our results indicated that African Americans, youth from disadvantaged communities, lower SES families achieve significantly lower levels of earnings, assets, and job quality during young adulthood. Second, we found that young adults' educational level only partially mediate the influences of family and race/ethnicity influences on young adults' socioeconomic attainment. Third, we found that young adults' educational level buffered the influence of early socioeconomic adversities and accentuated the positive influences of family resources. Findings highlight the importance of social context as well as educational opportunities during childhood and adolescence for economic stability in early adulthood.

Benefits of educational attainment on adult fluid cognition: international evidence from three birth cohorts.

PubMed

Clouston, Sean A P; Kuh, Diana; Herd, Pamela; Elliott, Jane; Richards, Marcus; Hofer, Scott M

2012-12-01

Educational attainment is highly correlated with social inequalities in adult cognitive health; however, the nature of this correlation is in dispute. Recently, researchers have argued that educational inequalities are an artefact of selection by individual differences in prior cognitive ability, which both drives educational attainment and tracks across the rest of the life course. Although few would deny that educational attainment is at least partly determined by prior cognitive ability, a complementary, yet controversial, view is that education has a direct causal and lasting benefit on cognitive development. We use observational data from three birth cohorts, with cognition measured in adolescence and adulthood. Ordinary least squares regression was used to model the relationship between adolescent cognition and adult fluid cognition and to test the sensitivity of our analyses to sample selection, projection and backdoor biases using propensity score matching. We find that having a university education is correlated with higher fluid cognition in adulthood, after adjustment for adolescent cognition. We do not find that adolescent cognition, gender or parental social class consistently modify this effect; however, women benefited more in the 1946 sample from Great Britain. In all three birth cohorts, substantial educational benefit remained after adjustment for adolescent cognition and parental social class, offsetting an effect equivalent of 0.5 to 1.5 standard deviations lower adolescent cognition. We also find that the likelihood of earning a university degree depends in part on adolescent cognition, gender and parental social class. We conclude that inequalities in adult cognition derive in part from educational experiences after adolescence.

Civic Education as a Collaborative Dimension of Social Studies Education in Attainment of Political Ethics in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dania, Peter

2015-01-01

The paper investigated Civic Education as a collaborative dimension of Social Studies Education in attainment of political ethics in Nigeria. The study adopted the survey research design. The sample for the study consisted of 580 Social Studies teachers selected from thirty secondary schools in the three senatorial districts of Delta State. The…

Work-Family Conflict: Does Educational Attainment Influence the Amount of Negative Spillover?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erarslan, Ayse Burcin

2009-01-01

Using a data from a purposive sample of 216 women and 218 men in Turkey, the relationship between educational attainment and the amount of negative spillover from job-to-home and home-to-job was examined. It was hypothesized that men and women with higher levels of education have less amount of negative spillover in both directions. Certain work…

Influence of educational attainment on pain intensity and disability in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: mediation effect of pain catastrophizing.

PubMed

Kim, Ho-Joong; Kim, Sung-Chan; Kang, Kyoung-Tak; Chang, Bong-Soon; Lee, Choon-Ki; Yeom, Jin S

2014-05-01

Level IV, prospective case series. To investigate the influence of educational attainment on the level of pain intensity and disability in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and determine how coping behavior, such as catastrophizing, may mediate the association between educational attainment and clinical impairments. Educational attainment has been thought to influence disability caused by chronic painful disease, mediated by pain behavior or a coping strategy such as catastrophizing. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of educational attainment on pain intensity or disability related with LSS. A total of 155 patients who were diagnosed as degenerative LSS participated in the study. Data on detailed medical history, physical examination, and series of questionnaires were collected, including pain catastrophizing scale, Oswestry Disability Index, and visual analogue pain scale for back and leg pain. For measures of socioeconomic status, educational attainment and occupation were assessed. Radiological analysis was performed using magnetic resonance images and computed tomographic scans. After adjustment of covariates, multivariate regression analysis was used to assess each component of the proposed mediation models among visual analogue pain scale for back/leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index, the level of education, occupation and pain catastrophizing scale. Mediation was also assessed by the bootstrapping technique. Educational attainment was negatively correlated with pain intensity, disability, and catastrophizing. Pain catastrophizing were also significantly correlated with disability and pain intensity for back/leg pain in the patients with LSS. In the relationship among variables, the mediation analysis with bootstrapping clearly showed the role of catastrophizing in the mediation between visual analogue pain scale for back pain/leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index, and the level of education. This study demonstrated that lower educational

Association of Educational Attainment With Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

PubMed

Kubota, Yasuhiko; Heiss, Gerardo; MacLehose, Richard F; Roetker, Nicholas S; Folsom, Aaron R

2017-08-01

Estimates of lifetime risk may help raise awareness of the extent to which educational inequalities are associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). To estimate lifetime risks of CVD according to categories of educational attainment. Participants were followed from 1987 through December 31, 2013. All CVD events (coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke) were confirmed by physician review and International Classification of Diseases codes. A total of 13 948 whites and African Americans who were 45 to 64 years old and free of CVD at baseline were included from 4 US communities (Washington County, Maryland; Forsyth County, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; and suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota). The data analysis was performed from June 7 to August 31, 2016. Educational attainment. We used a life table approach to estimate lifetime risks of CVD from age 45 through 85 years according to educational attainment. We adjusted for competing risks of death from underlying causes other than CVD. The sample of 13 948 participants was 56% female and 27% African American. During 269 210 person-years of follow-up, we documented 4512 CVD events and 2401 non-CVD deaths. Educational attainment displayed an inverse dose-response relation with cumulative risk of CVD, which became evident in middle age, with the most striking gap between those not completing vs completing high school. In men, lifetime risks of CVD were 59.0% (95% CI, 54.0%-64.1%) for grade school, 52.5% (95% CI, 47.7%-56.8%) for high school education without graduation, 50.9% (95% CI, 47.3%-53.9%) for high school graduation, 47.2% (95% CI, 41.5%-52.5%) for vocational school, 46.4% (95% CI, 42.8%-49.6%) for college with or without graduation, and 42.2% (95% CI, 36.6%-47.0%) for graduate/professional school; in women, 50.8% (95% CI, 45.7%-55.8%), 49.3% (95% CI, 45.1%-53.1%), 36.3% (95% CI, 33.4%-39.1%), 32.2% (95% CI, 26.0%-37.3%), 32.8% (95% CI, 29.1%-35.9%), and 28.0% (95% CI, 21

Penalized or Privileged? Sexual Identity, Gender, and Postsecondary Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fine, Leigh E.

2015-01-01

Prior literature on educational attainment indicates that there is both a female advantage and an LGB bonus: women are more likely to have earned bachelor's degrees than men, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons are more likely to have earned a bachelor's degree than heterosexuals. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of…

Improving the Postsecondary Educational Attainment of Youth in Foster Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dworsky, Amy

2018-01-01

This chapter examines what we know about the disparity in postsecondary educational attainment between youth in foster care and their non-foster care peers, the reasons for it, and the policies and programs that have been developed to address that disparity. It also discusses the unique role that community colleges can play in reducing this…

Reading Disability and Adult Attained Education and Income: Evidence from a 30-Year Longitudinal Study of a Population-Based Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Speirs, Katherine E.; Shenassa, Edmond D.

2014-01-01

This study examined the impact of childhood reading disability (RD) on adult educational attainment and income. Participants' (N = 1,344) RD was assessed at age 7, and adult educational attainment and income were assessed in midlife using categorical variables. Participants with RD at age 7 were 74% (95% CI: 0.18, 0.37) less likely to attain a…

The Challenges and Issues of Undergraduate Student Retention and Attainment in UK Veterinary Medical Education.

PubMed

Jackson, Elizabeth L; Armitage-Chan, Elizabeth

Student retention and attainment has recently been identified as a key area for development in veterinary medical education enquiry. Woodfield's research on retention and attainment across the UK disciplines has yielded some unique information about the challenges and issues of students who study veterinary medicine and related subjects. The present literature review aims to expand on Woodfield's findings and explain important issues about retention and attainment across veterinary medicine. Overall, the subject of retention and attainment in undergraduate veterinary medical education needs a great deal more empirical attention, such as data on the retention and attainment of mature and widening access students, and the effects of students being placed at remote locations during their studies. Our findings also cover some unsurprising issues: the dominance of women in a profession that is principally lead by men, the underrepresentation of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in veterinary medicine, and the effects of content overload in the veterinary medical curriculum. Based on data gathered by Woodfield and our investigation of the scholarly and gray literatures, we offer an overview of gaps in current knowledge and recommendations for further research.

Increasing educational attainment and mortality reduction: a systematic review and taxonomy.

PubMed

Byhoff, Elena; Hamati, Mary C; Power, Robyn; Burgard, Sarah A; Chopra, Vineet

2017-09-18

Understanding the relationship between increasing educational attainment and mortality reduction has important policy and public health implications. This systematic review of the literature establishes a taxonomy to facilitate evaluation of the association between educational attainment and early mortality. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched Ovid Medline, Embase, PubMed and hand searches of references for English-language primary data analyses using education as an independent variable and mortality as a dependent variable. Initial searches were undertaken in February 2015 and updated in April 2016. One thousand, seven hundred and eleven unique articles were identified, 418 manuscripts were screened and 262 eligible studies were included in the review. After an iterative review process, the literature was divided into four study domains: (1) all-cause mortality (n = 68, 26.0%), (2) outcome-specific mortality (n = 89, 34.0%), (3) explanatory pathways (n = 51, 19.5%), and (4) trends over time (n = 54, 20.6%). These four domains comprise a novel taxonomy that can be implemented to better quantify the relationship between education and mortality. We propose an organizational taxonomy for the education-mortality literature based upon study characteristics that will allow for a more in-depth understanding of this association. Our review suggests that studies that include mediators or subgroups can explain part, but not all, of the relationship between education and early mortality. PROSPERO registration # CRD42015017182 .

Is the Association Between Education and Fertility Postponement Causal? The Role of Family Background Factors.

PubMed

Tropf, Felix C; Mandemakers, Jornt J

2017-02-01

A large body of literature has demonstrated a positive relationship between education and age at first birth. However, this relationship may be partly spurious because of family background factors that cannot be controlled for in most research designs. We investigate the extent to which education is causally related to later age at first birth in a large sample of female twins from the United Kingdom (N = 2,752). We present novel estimates using within-identical twin and biometric models. Our findings show that one year of additional schooling is associated with about one-half year later age at first birth in ordinary least squares (OLS) models. This estimate reduced to only a 1.5-month later age at first birth for the within-identical twin model controlling for all shared family background factors (genetic and family environmental). Biometric analyses reveal that it is mainly influences of the family environment-not genetic factors-that cause spurious associations between education and age at first birth. Last, using data from the Office for National Statistics, we demonstrate that only 1.9 months of the 2.74 years of fertility postponement for birth cohorts 1944-1967 could be attributed to educational expansion based on these estimates. We conclude that the rise in educational attainment alone cannot explain differences in fertility timing between cohorts.

Educational attainment and motor burden in advanced Parkinson's disease - The emerging role of education in motor reserve.

PubMed

Blume, Josefine; Rothenfusser, Eva; Schlaier, Jürgen; Bogdahn, Ulrich; Lange, Max

2017-10-15

To explore the relationship of motor burden and educational attainment in patients with advanced stage PD. We included 102 consecutive patients who underwent a complete evaluation for DBS surgery, including detailed neuropsychological testing and UPDRSIII in a standardized Levodopa challenge. Years of education (YoE) were calculated as the highest grade attained in secondary school plus years for post-secondary training. The OFF medication UPDRS-III score was associated with YoE (p=0.006; t=-2.82) and age (p=0.007; t=-2.75) in our multivariable linear regression model even while including disease duration (p=0.8; t=0.21), presence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (p=0.9; t=0.16) or current IQ (p=0.2; t=1.25) as additional covariables. In a subgroup of 60 patients two years after DBS, the ON/ON UPDRS score was associated with YoE (p=0.01; t=-2.42) and diagnosis of PD dementia (p=0.05, t=1.95), while age (p=0.08, t=1.75), disease duration (p=0.6t=0.48) and LEDD (p=0.3; t=1.05) showed no significant association to ON/ON UPDRS score. We found an inverse correlation between years of education and lower (better) UPDRS -III motor score after adjusting for important covariables. Education may lead to an increased ability to compensate disturbances in basal ganglia circuits affecting not only for cognitive, but also for motor aspects of PD. Thus, educational attainment may play an important role in the concept of motor reserve. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Risky behaviors and educational attainment among young Mexican-origin mothers: The role of acculturative stress and the educational aspiration–expectation gap

PubMed Central

Bravo, Diamond Y.; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J.; Toomey, Russell B.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Jahromi, Laudan B.

2017-01-01

The current longitudinal study examined how Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ (N = 204) reports of acculturative stress during late adolescence were associated with their educational attainment and engagement in risky behaviors in young adulthood, 4 years post-partum; we also examined whether this association was mediated by discrepancies between adolescents’ educational aspirations and expectations. Findings revealed that mothers’ greater reports of stress regarding English competency pressures and pressures to assimilate were associated with a larger gap between their aspirations and expectations. Mothers’ reports of greater stress from pressures against assimilation, however, were associated with a smaller gap between aspirations and expectations. As expected, a larger gap between aspirations and expectations was associated with lower educational attainment and increased engagement in risky behaviors. Finally, significant mediation emerged, suggesting that the influence of stress from English competency pressures and pressures to assimilate on young mothers’ educational attainment and engagement in risky behaviors was mediated through the aspiration–expectation gap. Findings are discussed with respect to understanding discrepancies between young mothers’ aspirations and expectations in the context of acculturative stress. PMID:29263563

Parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment: relations to ethnicity, parental education, children's academic performance, and parental perceptions of school climate.

PubMed

Spera, Christopher; Wentzel, Kathryn R; Matto, Holly C

2009-09-01

This study examined parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment in relation to ethnicity (African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic), parental education, children's academic performance, and parental perceptions of the quality and climate of their children's school with a sample of 13,577 middle and high school parents. All parents had relatively high educational aspirations for their children, and within each ethnic subgroup, parental education and children's academic performance were significantly and positively related to parental aspirations. However, moderating effects were found such that Caucasian parents with lower levels of education had significantly lower educational aspirations for their children than did parents of other ethnicities with similar low levels of education. Although the strength of the relationship between parental perceptions of school-related factors and parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment was not strong, it was most predictive of non-Caucasian parental aspirations for their children.

Neighborhoods and Schools as Competing and Reinforcing Contexts for Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Ann

2010-01-01

Scholars hypothesize that both neighborhood and school contexts influence educational attainment, but few have considered both contexts simultaneously. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the author analyzes how school and neighborhood contexts are jointly related to high school and college graduation. She finds…

Black-White Disparities in Overweight and Obesity Trends by Educational Attainment in the United States, 1997–2008

PubMed Central

Jackson, Chandra L.; Yeh, Hsin-Chieh; Wang, Nae-Yuh; Thorpe, Roland; Brancati, Frederick L.

2013-01-01

Background. Few studies have examined racial and educational disparities in recent population-based trends. Methods. We analyzed data of a nationally representative sample of 174,228 US-born adults in the National Health Interview Survey from 1997 to 2008. We determined mean BMI trends by educational attainment and race and black-white prevalence ratios (PRs) for overweight/obesity (BMI > 25 kg/m2) using adjusted Poisson regression with robust variance. Results. From 1997 to 2008, BMI increased by ≥1 kg/m2 in all race-sex groups, and appeared to increase faster among whites. Blacks with greater than a high school education (GHSE) had a consistently higher BMI over time than whites in both women (28.3 ± 0.14 to 29.7 ± 0.18 kg/m2 versus 25.8 ± 0.58 to 26.5 ± 0.08 kg/m2) and men (28.1 ± 0.17 kg/m2 to 29.0 ± 0.20 versus 27.1 ± 0.04 kg/m2 to 28.1 ± 0.06 kg/m2). For participants of all educational attainment levels, age-adjusted overweight/obesity was greater by 44% (95% CI: 1.42–1.46) in black versus white women and 2% (1.01–1.04) in men. Among those with GHSE, overweight/obesity prevalence was greater (PR: 1.52; 1.49–1.55) in black versus white women, but greater (1.07; 1.05–1.09) in men. Conclusions. BMI increased steadily in all race-sex and education groups from 1997 to 2008, and blacks (particularly women) had a consistently higher BMI than their white counterparts. Overweight/obesity trends and racial disparities were more prominent among individuals with higher education levels, compared to their counterparts with lower education levels. PMID:23691282

Shared Environment Estimates for Educational Attainment: A Puzzle and Possible Solutions.

PubMed

Freese, Jeremy; Jao, Yu-Han

2017-02-01

Classical behavioral genetics models for twin and other family designs decompose traits into heritability, shared environment, and nonshared environment components. Estimates of heritability of adult traits are pervasively observed to be far higher than those of shared environment, which has been used to make broad claims about the impotence of upbringing. However, the most commonly studied nondemographic variable in many areas of social science, educational attainment, exhibits robustly high estimates both for heritability and for shared environment. When previously noticed, the usual explanation has emphasized family resources, but evidence suggests this is unlikely to explain the anomalous high estimates for shared environment of educational attainment. We articulate eight potential complementary explanations and discuss evidence of their prospective contributions to resolving the puzzle. In so doing, we hope to further consideration of how behavioral genetics findings may advance studies of social stratification beyond the effort to articulate specific genetic influences. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Educational Attainment and Attitudes towards War in Muslim Countries Contemplating War: The Cases of Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shafiq, M. Najeeb; Ross, Karen

2009-01-01

This study addresses the little understood relationship between educational attainment and public attitudes towards war in four predominantly Muslim countries contemplating war: Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey. The multivariate analysis using public opinion data suggests that the educational attainment of respondents has no statistically…

Beliefs and Values among Rural Citizens: Shared Expectations for Educational Attainment?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deggs, David M.; Miller, Michael T.

2011-01-01

Discussions at the local, state, and national level have been focused on the importance of providing access and opportunity for college attendance. While these discussions are important to raising public interest in higher education attainment, they often negate how community values influence the college attendance decision process. This study…

The Challenges of Attaining Millennium Development Goals in Education in Africa by 2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ojogwu, C. N.

2009-01-01

Millennium Development Goals were established by the United Nations to help underdeveloped countries to overcome problems of illiteracy, poverty, low health status and quality of life. Much emphasis was placed on the attainment of MDG targets in education because of its pivotal role in national development. The targets include education for all…

GWAS of 126,559 Individuals Identifies Genetic Variants Associated with Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Medland, Sarah E.; Derringer, Jaime; Yang, Jian; Esko, Tõnu; Martin, Nicolas W.; Westra, Harm-Jan; Shakhbazov, Konstantin; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Agrawal, Arpana; Albrecht, Eva; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Amin, Najaf; Barnard, John; Baumeister, Sebastian E.; Benke, Kelly S.; Bielak, Lawrence F.; Boatman, Jeffrey A.; Boyle, Patricia A.; Davies, Gail; de Leeuw, Christiaan; Eklund, Niina; Evans, Daniel S.; Ferhmann, Rudolf; Fischer, Krista; Gieger, Christian; Gjessing, Håkon K.; Hägg, Sara; Harris, Jennifer R.; Hayward, Caroline; Holzapfel, Christina; Ibrahim-Verbaas, Carla A.; Ingelsson, Erik; Jacobsson, Bo; Joshi, Peter K.; Jugessur, Astanand; Kaakinen, Marika; Kanoni, Stavroula; Karjalainen, Juha; Kolcic, Ivana; Kristiansson, Kati; Kutalik, Zoltán; Lahti, Jari; Lee, Sang H.; Lin, Peng; Lind, Penelope A.; Liu, Yongmei; Lohman, Kurt; Loitfelder, Marisa; McMahon, George; Vidal, Pedro Marques; Meirelles, Osorio; Milani, Lili; Myhre, Ronny; Nuotio, Marja-Liisa; Oldmeadow, Christopher J.; Petrovic, Katja E.; Peyrot, Wouter J.; Polašek, Ozren; Quaye, Lydia; Reinmaa, Eva; Rice, John P.; Rizzi, Thais S.; Schmidt, Helena; Schmidt, Reinhold; Smith, Albert V.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Tanaka, Toshiko; Terracciano, Antonio; van der Loos, Matthijs J.H.M.; Vitart, Veronique; Völzke, Henry; Wellmann, Jürgen; Yu, Lei; Zhao, Wei; Allik, Jüri; Attia, John R.; Bandinelli, Stefania; Bastardot, François; Beauchamp, Jonathan; Bennett, David A.; Berger, Klaus; Bierut, Laura J.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Bültmann, Ute; Campbell, Harry; Chabris, Christopher F.; Cherkas, Lynn; Chung, Mina K.; Cucca, Francesco; de Andrade, Mariza; De Jager, Philip L.; De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel; Deary, Ian J.; Dedoussis, George V.; Deloukas, Panos; Dimitriou, Maria; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Elderson, Martin F.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Evans, David M.; Faul, Jessica D.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Garcia, Melissa E.; Grönberg, Henrik; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Hall, Per; Harris, Juliette M.; Harris, Tamara B.; Hastie, Nicholas D.; Heath, Andrew C.; Hernandez, Dena G.; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hofman, Adriaan; Holle, Rolf; Holliday, Elizabeth G.; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Iacono, William G.; Illig, Thomas; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Kähönen, Mika; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kirkpatrick, Robert M.; Kowgier, Matthew; Latvala, Antti; Launer, Lenore J.; Lawlor, Debbie A.; Lehtimäki, Terho; Li, Jingmei; Lichtenstein, Paul; Lichtner, Peter; Liewald, David C.; Madden, Pamela A.; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Mäkinen, Tomi E.; Masala, Marco; McGue, Matt; Metspalu, Andres; Mielck, Andreas; Miller, Michael B.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mukherjee, Sutapa; Nyholt, Dale R.; Oostra, Ben A.; Palmer, Lyle J.; Palotie, Aarno; Penninx, Brenda; Perola, Markus; Peyser, Patricia A.; Preisig, Martin; Räikkönen, Katri; Raitakari, Olli T.; Realo, Anu; Ring, Susan M.; Ripatti, Samuli; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Rudan, Igor; Rustichini, Aldo; Salomaa, Veikko; Sarin, Antti-Pekka; Schlessinger, David; Scott, Rodney J.; Snieder, Harold; Pourcain, Beate St; Starr, John M.; Sul, Jae Hoon; Surakka, Ida; Svento, Rauli; Teumer, Alexander; Tiemeier, Henning; Rooij, Frank JAan; Van Wagoner, David R.; Vartiainen, Erkki; Viikari, Jorma; Vollenweider, Peter; Vonk, Judith M.; Waeber, Gérard; Weir, David R.; Wichmann, H.-Erich; Widen, Elisabeth; Willemsen, Gonneke; Wilson, James F.; Wright, Alan F.; Conley, Dalton; Davey-Smith, George; Franke, Lude; Groenen, Patrick J. F.; Hofman, Albert; Johannesson, Magnus; Kardia, Sharon L.R.; Krueger, Robert F.; Laibson, David; Martin, Nicholas G.; Meyer, Michelle N.; Posthuma, Danielle; Thurik, A. Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Uitterlinden, André G.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Visscher, Peter M.; Benjamin, Daniel J.; Cesarini, David; Koellinger, Philipp D.

2013-01-01

A genome-wide association study of educational attainment was conducted in a discovery sample of 101,069 individuals and a replication sample of 25,490. Three independent SNPs are genome-wide significant (rs9320913, rs11584700, rs4851266), and all three replicate. Estimated effects sizes are small (R2 ≈ 0.02%), approximately 1 month of schooling per allele. A linear polygenic score from all measured SNPs accounts for ≈ 2% of the variance in both educational attainment and cognitive function. Genes in the region of the loci have previously been associated with health, cognitive, and central nervous system phenotypes, and bioinformatics analyses suggest the involvement of the anterior caudate nucleus. These findings provide promising candidate SNPs for follow-up work, and our effect size estimates can anchor power analyses in social-science genetics. PMID:23722424

Nonmedical prescription drug use among US young adults by educational attainment.

PubMed

Martins, Silvia S; Kim, June H; Chen, Lian-Yu; Levin, Deysia; Keyes, Katherine M; Cerdá, Magdalena; Storr, Carla L

2015-05-01

Little is known about nonmedical use of prescription drugs among non-college-attending young adults in the United States. Data were drawn from 36,781 young adults (ages 18-22 years) from the 2008-2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health public use files. The adjusted main effects for current educational attainment, along with its interaction with gender and race/ethnicity, were considered. Compared to those attending college, non-college-attending young adults with at least and less than a HS degree had a higher prevalence of past-year nonmedical use of prescription opioids [NMUPO 13.1 and 13.2 %, respectively, vs. 11.3 %, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) 1.21 (1.11-1.33) and 1.25 (1.12-1.40)], yet lower prevalence of prescription stimulant use. Among users, regardless of drug type, non-college-attending youth were more likely to have past-year disorder secondary to use [e.g., NMUPO 17.4 and 19.1 %, respectively, vs. 11.7 %, aORs 1.55 (1.22-1.98) and 1.75 (1.35-2.28)]. Educational attainment interacted with gender and race: (1) among nonmedical users of prescription opioids, females who completed high school but were not enrolled in college had a significantly greater risk of opioid disorder (compared to female college students) than the same comparison for men; and (2) the risk for nonmedical use of prescription opioids was negligible across educational attainment groups for Hispanics, which was significantly different than the increased risk shown for non-Hispanic whites. There is a need for young adult prevention and intervention programs to target nonmedical prescription drug use beyond college campuses.

Educational Attainment by Age, Sex, and Race, for the United States: 1970. 1970 Census of Population, Supplementary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of the Census (DOC), Suitland, MD. Population Div.

The 1960's witnessed considerable change in educational attainment levels. Of Americans 25 years old and over in 1970, 52 percent were at least high school graduates, as compared with 41 percent in 1960 and 34 percent in 1950. There was considerable variation in educational attainment levels in 1970 among the various age groups in the population.…

Is Educational Attainment Associated with Increased Risk of Mortality in People with Dementia? A Population-based Study.

PubMed

Contador, Israel; Stern, Yaakov; Bermejo-Pareja, Felix; Sanchez-Ferro, Alvaro; Benito-Leon, Julian

2017-01-01

The association between higher education and increased mortality in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is controversial. Further it is unknown whether education predicts survival in all dementia subtypes. We assessed mortality rates and death causes of persons with dementia compared to participants without dementia. Participants derive from the Neurological Disorders in Central Spain, a prospective population- based cohort study of older adults. We compared 269 persons with dementia to 2944 participants without dementia. We carried out Cox regression models to predict the risk of mortality dependent on the educational attainment adjusting for covariates. Reasons of death were obtained from the National Population Register. During a median follow-up of 5.4 years, 400 individuals died (171 with dementia, 229 without dementia). Among the participants with dementia, those with higher educational attainment had an increased risk of death than those with lower education; the adjusted hazard ratio (HRa) was 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.94). When the analysis was restricted to patients with AD the HRa increased to 1.51 (95% CI = 1.01-2.24). By contrast, educational attainment was not associated with increased mortality among participants without dementia (HRa = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.71-1.20, p = 0.55), whereas education did not influence mortality in QD. Our findings suggest that high educational attainment is associated with increased mortality risk in people with dementia. This observation implies that neuropathology is more advanced in patients with higher education at any level of clinical severity, leading these individuals to an earlier death after diagnosis. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Cortisol and cognitive function in midlife: the role of childhood cognition and educational attainment.

PubMed

Gaysina, Darya; Gardner, Michael P; Richards, Marcus; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav

2014-09-01

Adult cognition and age-related cognitive decline can be influenced by dysregulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis with concomitant changes in cortisol levels. However, very little is known about the role of childhood cognition and educational attainment in this relationship. Using data from the British 1946 birth cohort, the present study investigated: (1) associations between cortisol levels and patterns and cognitive function in midlife; (2) direct and interactive effects of childhood cognition, educational attainment and cortisol on cognitive function in midlife. Verbal memory, letter search speed and reaction time were assessed at age 60-64 years. Salivary cortisol samples (wakening, 30 min after wakening and evening) were collected at the same age. Childhood cognitive ability was measured at ages 8, 11, and 15, and educational level was reported at age 26. Associations between cortisol, childhood cognition, educational attainment and cognitive function in midlife were tested using linear regression and structural equation modelling approaches. Higher evening cortisol level was associated with slower reaction time and lower verbal memory. These associations were independent of childhood cognition and education as well as a range of other potential confounders. Childhood cognition and education were not directly associated with evening cortisol. However, there was a significant interaction effect between childhood cognition and evening cortisol on reaction time (p=.002): higher evening cortisol was associated with slower reaction time only among those with low childhood cognitive ability. There was little evidence of associations between the other cortisol measures and cognitive function. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Can people with disabilities gain from education? Similarities and differences between occupational attainment among persons with and without disabilities.

PubMed

Boman, Tomas; Kjellberg, Anders; Danermark, Berth; Boman, Eva

2014-01-01

More knowledge is needed of occupational attainment of persons with disabilities, i.e., the relationship between their educational level and their profession, and factors of importance for this relationship. To compare occupational attainment among persons with and without a disability. 3396 informants with disabilities and 19,004 non-disabled informants participated (control group) in a survey study by Statistics Sweden.The informants with disabilities were divided into six groups. Occupational attainment did not differ between the disability groups, neither between persons with and without a disability. Follow-up analysis showed that men with disabilities with primary or secondary school had an occupation above their educational level to a significantly larger extent than women with disabilities. This pattern was even clearer in comparison with the control group. Persons without disabilities, with secondary or higher education, were more successful in the labor market than persons with disabilities. Occupational attainment increased with age in both groups. Young women with disabilities who only have primary or secondary education run a higher risk of having a job that is below their educational level than men at the same educational level. This indicates discriminating mechanisms in the society related to gender and ability.

Educational Background and Academic Rank of Faculty Members within US Schools of Pharmacy.

PubMed

Assemi, Mitra; Hudmon, Karen Suchanek; Sowinski, Kevin M; Corelli, Robin L

2016-05-25

Objective. To characterize the educational background and academic rank of faculty members in US schools of pharmacy, estimate the extent to which they are employed by institutions where they received previous training, and determine whether differences in degree origin and rank exist between faculty members in established (≤1995) vs newer programs. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) faculty database and demographic information from the public domain. Results. Among 5516 faculty members, 50.3% held two or more types of degrees. Established schools had a higher median number of faculty members and a higher mean faculty rank than did newer schools. Conclusion. The difference in mean faculty rank highlights the shortage of experienced faculty members in newer schools. Future research efforts should investigate educational attainment in correlation to other faculty and school characteristics and prospectively track and report trends related to pharmacy faculty members composition.

Is Labour Market Demand Keeping Pace with the Rising Educational Attainment of the Population? Education Indicators in Focus. No. 57

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing, 2017

2017-01-01

Across OECD countries, more and more individuals have attained tertiary education and the share of those with less education has declined. Although there are more tertiary-educated individuals than ever before, they still achieve good labour market outcomes. This confirms that labour market demand is generally keeping pace with rising educational…

Relationships of Causal Attributions and Academic Attainment among Colleges of Education Students in North-Western Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sambo, Aminu; Mohammed, Aisha I.

2015-01-01

This study investigated the relationship of causal attributions and academic attainment of Colleges of Education students in north-west geo-political zone of Nigeria. The study was based on the hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between causal attributions academic attainment of students. The questionnaire on Academic Causal…

Educational Attainment in the United States: March 1989 and 1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kominski, Robert

1991-01-01

Data from the Bureau of the Census' March 1988 and 1989 Current Population Surveys (CPS) on the educational attainment of Americans are provided in 22 tables and 5 graphs. Summary data on the years of school completed by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin are shown for 1988 and 1989 in Table 1. Other detailed data are shown for 1989 in Tables 2…

Children at Risk from Domestic Violence and Their Educational Attainment: Perspectives of Education Welfare Officers, Social Workers and Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrne, Dorothy; Taylor, Brian

2007-01-01

Children who witness domestic violence may have impaired educational attainment as well as facing other challenges such as struggles with self-esteem and forming relationships. This qualitative study set in Northern Ireland explored the perceptions of Education Welfare Officers, child protection social workers and teachers in post-primary schools…

Natural Mentors, Racial Identity, and Educational Attainment among African American Adolescents: Exploring Pathways to Success

PubMed Central

Hurd, Noelle M.; Sánchez, Bernadette; Zimmerman, Marc A.; Caldwell, Cleopatra H.

2012-01-01

The present study explored how relationships with natural mentors may contribute to African American adolescents’ long-term educational attainment by influencing adolescents’ racial identity and academic beliefs. This study included 541 academically at-risk African American adolescents transitioning into adulthood (54% female). Results of the current study indicated that relationships with natural mentors promoted more positive long-term educational attainment among participants through increased private regard (a dimension of racial identity) and stronger beliefs in the importance of doing well in school for future success. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. PMID:22537308

Mental disorders and subsequent educational attainment in a US national sample.

PubMed

Breslau, Joshua; Lane, Michael; Sampson, Nancy; Kessler, Ronald C

2008-07-01

As part of a larger investigation of the adverse effects of mental disorders on role functioning, we examined the associations of early-onset mental disorders with subsequent educational attainment in a large nationally representative survey of the US adult population. Diagnoses and age of onset for each of 17 DSM-IV disorders were assessed through retrospective self-report with the fully structured WHO Composite International Diagnostic Instrument (CIDI). Survival analysis was used to examine the associations between early-onset DSM-IV/CIDI disorders and subsequent termination of schooling with controls for socio-demographic characteristics and childhood adversities (i.e. childhood traumatic events, childhood neglect, parental mental illness, family disruption, and low parental educational attainment). Mental disorders were found to be significantly associated with termination of schooling prior to completion of each of four educational milestones (primary school graduation, high school graduation, college entry, college graduation), with odds ratios in the range of 1.3-7.0. The proportion of school terminations attributable to mental disorders was largest for high school graduation (10.2%) but also meaningful for primary school graduation (3.8%), college entry (4.4%) and college graduation (2.6%). These results add to a growing body of evidence documenting a wide variety of adverse life course effects of mental disorders.

Measuring Recent Apparent Declines In Longevity: The Role Of Increasing Educational Attainment.

PubMed

Bound, John; Geronimus, Arline T; Rodriguez, Javier M; Waidmann, Timothy A

2015-12-01

Independent researchers have reported an alarming decline in life expectancy after 1990 among US non-Hispanic whites with less than a high school education. However, US educational attainment rose dramatically during the twentieth century; thus, focusing on changes in mortality rates of those not completing high school means looking at a different, shrinking, and increasingly vulnerable segment of the population in each year. We analyzed US data to examine the robustness of earlier findings categorizing education in terms of relative rank in the overall distribution of each birth cohort, instead of by credentials such as high school graduation. Estimating trends in mortality for the bottom quartile, we found little evidence that survival probabilities declined dramatically. We conclude that widely publicized estimates of worsening mortality rates among non-Hispanic whites with low socioeconomic position are highly sensitive to how educational attainment is classified. However, non-Hispanic whites with low socioeconomic position, especially women, are not sharing in improving life expectancy, and disparities between US blacks and whites are entrenched. Findings underscore the urgency of an agenda to equitably disseminate new medical technologies and to deepen knowledge of social determinants of health and how that knowledge can be applied, to promote the objective of achieving population health equity. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Framing the Future: Revisiting the Place of Educational Expectations in Status Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozick, Robert; Alexander, Karl; Entwisle, Doris; Dauber, Susan; Kerr, Kerri

2010-01-01

This study revisits the Wisconsin model of status attainment from a life course developmental perspective. Fixed-effects regression analyses lend strong support to the Wisconsin framework's core proposition that academic performance and significant others' influence shape educational expectations. However, investigating the process of expectation…

Educational Attainment in South Africa: A View from the Census 1865-2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christopher, A. J.

2015-01-01

Population censuses record considerable volumes of personal information, which when aggregated and tabulated provide significant insights into national societies. South African censuses have recorded levels of educational attainment since their inception in the mid-nineteenth century, initially measuring literacy and later the level of education…

ESTIMATING THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL POVERTY-ADJUSTED EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT ON TERM BIRTH WEIGHT USING CONDITIONAL MODELS

EPA Science Inventory

Reported maternal education is an important predictor of pregnancy outcomes. Like income, it is believed to allow women to locate in more favorable conditions than less educated or affluent peers. We examine the effect of reported educational attainment on term birth weight (birt...

The UKCAT-12 study: educational attainment, aptitude test performance, demographic and socio-economic contextual factors as predictors of first year outcome in a cross-sectional collaborative study of 12 UK medical schools.

PubMed

McManus, I C; Dewberry, Chris; Nicholson, Sandra; Dowell, Jonathan S

2013-11-14

Most UK medical schools use aptitude tests during student selection, but large-scale studies of predictive validity are rare. This study assesses the United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT), and its four sub-scales, along with measures of educational attainment, individual and contextual socio-economic background factors, as predictors of performance in the first year of medical school training. A prospective study of 4,811 students in 12 UK medical schools taking the UKCAT from 2006 to 2008 as a part of the medical school application, for whom first year medical school examination results were available in 2008 to 2010. UKCAT scores and educational attainment measures (General Certificate of Education (GCE): A-levels, and so on; or Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA): Scottish Highers, and so on) were significant predictors of outcome. UKCAT predicted outcome better in female students than male students, and better in mature than non-mature students. Incremental validity of UKCAT taking educational attainment into account was significant, but small. Medical school performance was also affected by sex (male students performing less well), ethnicity (non-White students performing less well), and a contextual measure of secondary schooling, students from secondary schools with greater average attainment at A-level (irrespective of public or private sector) performing less well. Multilevel modeling showed no differences between medical schools in predictive ability of the various measures. UKCAT sub-scales predicted similarly, except that Verbal Reasoning correlated positively with performance on Theory examinations, but negatively with Skills assessments. This collaborative study in 12 medical schools shows the power of large-scale studies of medical education for answering previously unanswerable but important questions about medical student selection, education and training. UKCAT has predictive validity as a predictor of medical school outcome

Expanding Notions of Social Reproduction: Grandparents' Educational Attainment and Grandchildren's Cognitive Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferguson, Jason L.; Ready, Douglas D.

2011-01-01

Inherited privilege and status remain powerful factors in the distribution of opportunity in American life. These transfers of socioeconomic resources across generations are facilitated by the links between adult educational attainment and children's cognitive skills. Our current study expands the notion of social reproduction beyond this narrow…

The Role of Feedback in the Under-Attainment of Ethnic Minority Students: Evidence from Distance Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, John T. E.; Alden Rivers, Bethany; Whitelock, Denise

2015-01-01

In UK higher education, the attainment of ethnic minority students is lower than that of white students, and this remains the case when differences in entry qualifications have been taken into account. The present study investigated whether the under-attainment of ethnic minority students might be due to the nature of the feedback that they…

Expectancy and Achievement Gaps in Educational Attainment and Subsequent Adverse Health Effects Among Adolescents With and Without Chronic Medical Conditions.

PubMed

Wisk, Lauren E; Weitzman, Elissa R

2017-10-01

While education-based disparities in health are common, the extent to which chronic conditions contribute to education gaps and to consequent health disparities is not fully understood. As such, we sought to investigate educational aspirations, expectations, and attainment among youth with and without chronic conditions and to determine if these relationships mediated subsequent disparities in health and well-being. Longitudinal data on 3,518 youths are from the 1997-2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a population-based survey. Multivariate regression was used to assess disparities in educational aspirations, expectations, and attainment by chronic conditions and the subsequent effects on health and well-being, adjusting for important potential confounders. Youth with chronic medical conditions (YCMCs) did not report significantly lower educational aspirations than their healthy peers; however, YCMC reported lower expectations for their educational attainment and fewer YCMC had earned their desired degree by the end of follow-up (e.g., ≥bachelor's degree: 19.9% for YCMC vs. 26.0% for peers, p < .05). YCMC reported significantly worse general health, lower life satisfaction, and lower psychological well-being in young adulthood than did their healthy peers. These disparities persisted after adjustment for confounders; the association between chronic disease and health was partially, but significantly, mediated by actual educational attainment. Findings suggest an important risk mechanism through which YCMC may acquire socioeconomic disadvantage as they develop and progress through educational settings. Disproportionate lags in education, from expectation to attainment, may in turn increase YCMC's susceptibility to poor health and well-being in the future. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Independent and joint associations of race/ethnicity and educational attainment with sleep-related symptoms in a population-based US sample.

PubMed

Cunningham, Timothy J; Ford, Earl S; Chapman, Daniel P; Liu, Yong; Croft, Janet B

2015-08-01

Prior studies have documented disparities in short and long sleep duration, excessive daytime sleepiness, and insomnia by educational attainment and race/ethnicity separately. We examined both independent and interactive effects of these factors with a broader range of sleep indicators in a racially/ethnically diverse sample. We analyzed 2012 National Health Interview Survey data from 33,865 adults aged ≥18years. Sleep-related symptomatology included short sleep duration (≤6h), long sleep duration (≥9h), fatigue >3days, excessive daytime sleepiness, and insomnia. Bivariate analyses with chi-square tests and log-linear regression were performed. The overall age-adjusted prevalence was 29.1% for short sleep duration, 8.5% for long sleep duration, 15.1% for fatigue, 12.6% for excessive daytime sleepiness, and 18.8% for insomnia. Educational attainment and race/ethnicity were independently related to the five sleep-related symptoms. Among Whites, the likelihood of most sleep indicators increased as educational attainment decreased; relationships varied for the other racial/ethnic groups. For short sleep duration, the educational attainment-by-race/ethnicity interaction effect was significant for African Americans (p<0.0001), Hispanics (p<0.0001), and Asians (p=0.0233) compared to Whites. For long sleep duration, the interaction was significant for Hispanics only (p=0.0003). Our results demonstrate the importance of examining both educational attainment and race/ethnicity simultaneously to more fully understand disparities in sleep health. Increased understanding of the mechanisms linking sociodemographic factors to sleep health is needed to determine whether policies and programs to increase educational attainment may also reduce these disparities within an increasingly diverse population. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A Multicomponent, Preschool to Third Grade Preventive Intervention and Educational Attainment at 35 Years of Age.

PubMed

Reynolds, Arthur J; Ou, Suh-Ruu; Temple, Judy A

2018-03-01

Educational attainment is the leading social determinant of health, but few studies of prevention programs have examined whether the programs are associated with educational attainment outcomes after the mid-20s, especially for large-scale programs that provide a longer duration of services. To examine the association between a preschool to third grade intervention and educational attainment at midlife and differences by program duration, sex, and parental educational level. This matched-group, alternative intervention study assessed 1539 low-income minority children born in 1979 or 1980 who grew up in high-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. The comparison group included 550 children primarily from randomly selected schools participating in the usual early intervention. A total of 989 children who entered preschool in 1983 or 1984 and completed kindergarten in 1986 were included in the Chicago Longitudinal Study and were followed up for 27 to 30 years after the end of a multicomponent intervention. A total of 1398 participants (90.8%) in the original sample had educational attainment records at 35 years of age. The study was performed from January 1, 2002, through May 31, 2015. The Child-Parent Center Program provides school-based educational enrichment and comprehensive family services from preschool to third grade (ages 3-9 years). Educational outcomes from administrative records and self-report included school dropout, 4-year high school graduation, years of education, postsecondary credential, and earned degrees from associate's to master's or higher. A total of 1539 participants (mean [SD] age, 35.1 [0.32] years; 1423 [92.9%] black and 108 [7.1%] Hispanic) were included in the study. After weighting on 2 propensity scores, preschool participants had higher rates of postsecondary degree completion, including associate's degree or higher (15.7% vs 10.7%; difference, 5.0%; 95% CI, 1.0%-9.0%), master's degree (4.2% vs 1.5%; difference, 2.7%; 95% CI, 1

A Multicomponent, Preschool to Third Grade Preventive Intervention and Educational Attainment at 35 Years of Age

PubMed Central

Ou, Suh-Ruu; Temple, Judy A.

2018-01-01

Importance Educational attainment is the leading social determinant of health, but few studies of prevention programs have examined whether the programs are associated with educational attainment outcomes after the mid-20s, especially for large-scale programs that provide a longer duration of services. Objective To examine the association between a preschool to third grade intervention and educational attainment at midlife and differences by program duration, sex, and parental educational level. Design, Setting, and Participants This matched-group, alternative intervention study assessed 1539 low-income minority children born in 1979 or 1980 who grew up in high-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. The comparison group included 550 children primarily from randomly selected schools participating in the usual early intervention. A total of 989 children who entered preschool in 1983 or 1984 and completed kindergarten in 1986 were included in the Chicago Longitudinal Study and were followed up for 27 to 30 years after the end of a multicomponent intervention. A total of 1398 participants (90.8%) in the original sample had educational attainment records at 35 years of age. The study was performed from January 1, 2002, through May 31, 2015. Interventions The Child-Parent Center Program provides school-based educational enrichment and comprehensive family services from preschool to third grade (ages 3-9 years). Main Outcomes and Measures Educational outcomes from administrative records and self-report included school dropout, 4-year high school graduation, years of education, postsecondary credential, and earned degrees from associate’s to master’s or higher. Results A total of 1539 participants (mean [SD] age, 35.1 [0.32] years; 1423 [92.9%] black and 108 [7.1%] Hispanic) were included in the study. After weighting on 2 propensity scores, preschool participants had higher rates of postsecondary degree completion, including associate’s degree or higher (15

Childhood (Mis)Fortune, Educational Attainment, and Adult Health: Contingent Benefits of a College Degree?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schafer, Markus H.; Wilkinson, Lindsay R.; Ferraro, Kenneth F.

2013-01-01

College-educated adults are healthier than other people in the United States, but selection bias complicates our understanding of how education influences health. This article focuses on the possibility that the health benefits of college may vary according to childhood (mis)fortune and people's propensity to attain a college degree in the first…

Relation of Opportunity to Learn Advanced Math to the Educational Attainment of Rural Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irvin, Matthew; Byun, Soo-yong; Smiley, Whitney S.; Hutchins, Bryan C.

2017-01-01

Our study examined the relation of advanced math course taking to the educational attainment of rural youth. We used data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Regression analyses demonstrated that when previous math achievement is accounted for, rural students take advanced math at a significantly lower rate than urban students.…

The Effects of an Upper Secondary Education Reform on the Attainment of Immigrant Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinch, Christian N.; Bratsberg, Bernt; Raaum, Oddbjorn

2012-01-01

The national Norwegian school reform of 1994, which gave students statutory rights to at least 3 years of upper secondary education, had a significant impact on educational attainment among immigrant youth. In particular, we find that the immigrant transition rate from compulsory schooling to completion of the first year of upper secondary…

Well "and" Well-Off: Decreasing Medicaid and Health-Care Costs by Increasing Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeBaun, Bill; Roc, Martens

2013-01-01

Cutting the number of high school dropouts in half nationally would save $7.3 billion in annual Medicaid spending, according to a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. "Well 'and' Well-Off: Decreasing Medicaid and Health-Care Costs by Increasing Educational Attainment" examines Medicaid spending for all fifty states and…

Educational Attainment is not a Good Proxy for Cognitive Function in Methamphetamine Dependence

PubMed Central

Dean, Andy C.; Hellemann, Gerhard; Sugar, Catherine A.; London, Edythe D.

2014-01-01

We sought to test the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with both the quantity and quality of one's education, such that the years of education obtained by methamphetamine dependent individuals serves to underestimate general cognitive functioning and overestimate the quality of academic learning. Thirty-six methamphetamine-dependent participants and 42 healthy comparison subjects completed cognitive tests and self-report measures in Los Angeles, California. An overall cognitive battery score was used to assess general cognition, and vocabulary knowledge was used as a proxy for the quality of academic learning. Linear regression procedures were used for analyses. Supporting the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with the quantity of education, we found that a) earlier onset of methamphetamine use was associated with fewer years of education (p < .01); b) using a normative model developed in healthy participants, methamphetamine-dependent participants had lower educational attainment than predicted from their demographics and performance on the cognitive battery score (p < .01); and c) greater differences between methamphetamine-dependent participants' predicted and actual educational attainment were associated with an earlier onset of MA use (p ≤ .01). Supporting the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with the quality of education, years of education received prior to the onset of methamphetamine use was a better predictor of a proxy for academic learning, vocabulary knowledge, than was the total years of education obtained. Results support the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with the quantity and quality of educational exposure, leading to under- and overestimation of cognitive function and academic learning, respectively. PMID:22206606

Educational attainment is not a good proxy for cognitive function in methamphetamine dependence.

PubMed

Dean, Andy C; Hellemann, Gerhard; Sugar, Catherine A; London, Edythe D

2012-06-01

We sought to test the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with both the quantity and quality of one's education, such that the years of education obtained by methamphetamine dependent individuals serves to underestimate general cognitive functioning and overestimate the quality of academic learning. Thirty-six methamphetamine-dependent participants and 42 healthy comparison subjects completed cognitive tests and self-report measures in Los Angeles, California. An overall cognitive battery score was used to assess general cognition, and vocabulary knowledge was used as a proxy for the quality of academic learning. Linear regression procedures were used for analyses. Supporting the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with the quantity of education, we found that (a) earlier onset of methamphetamine use was associated with fewer years of education (p<.01); (b) using a normative model developed in healthy participants, methamphetamine-dependent participants had lower educational attainment than predicted from their demographics and performance on the cognitive battery score (p<.01); and (c) greater differences between methamphetamine-dependent participants' predicted and actual educational attainment were associated with an earlier onset of MA use (p≤.01). Supporting the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with the quality of education, years of education received prior to the onset of methamphetamine use was a better predictor of a proxy for academic learning, vocabulary knowledge, than was the total years of education obtained. Results support the hypothesis that methamphetamine use interferes with the quantity and quality of educational exposure, leading to under- and overestimation of cognitive function and academic learning, respectively. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Educational attainment and health outcomes: Data from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey.

PubMed

Kaplan, Robert M; Fang, Zhengyi; Kirby, James

2017-06-01

Using data from the nationally representative Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS), we explored the extent to which health care utilization and health risk-taking, together with previously examined mediators, can explain the education-health gradient above and beyond what can be explained by previously examined mediators such as age, race, and poverty status. Health was measured using the Physical Component Score (PCS) from the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form (SF-12). Educational attainment was self-reported and categorized as 1 (less than high school), 2 (high school graduate or GED), 3 (some college), 4 (bachelor's degree), and 5 (graduate degree). In bivariate analysis, we found systematic graded relationships between educational attainment and health including, SF-12 PCS scores, self-rated health, and activity limitations. In addition, education was associated with having more office visits and outpatient visits and less risk tolerance. Those with less education were also more likely to be uninsured throughout the year. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that adjustment for age, race, poverty status and marital status explained part, but not nearly all, of the relationship between education and health. Adding a variety of variables on health care and attitudes to the models provided no additional explanatory power. This pattern of results persisted even after stratifying on the number of self-reported chronic conditions. Our findings provide no evidence that access to and use of health care explains the education-health gradient. However, more research is necessary to conclusively rule out medical care as a mediator between education and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing the benefits of a rising tide: Educational attainment and increases in neighborhood socioeconomic advantage.

PubMed

Johnston, William R

2017-02-01

An emerging approach to studying associations between neighborhood contexts and educational outcomes is to estimate the outcomes of adolescents growing up in neighborhoods that are experiencing economic growth in comparison to peers that reside in economically stable or declining communities. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), I examine the association between education attainment and changes in socioeconomic advantage in urban neighborhoods between 1990 and 2000. I find that residing in a neighborhood that experiences economic improvements has a positive association with educational attainment for urban adolescents. Furthermore, race-based analyses suggest consistently positive associations for all race subgroups, lending support to protective models of neighborhood effects that argue high neighborhood SES supports positive outcomes for adolescents residing in these contexts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cumulative Childhood Adversity, Educational Attainment, and Active Life Expectancy Among U.S. Adults

PubMed Central

Montez, Jennifer Karas; Hayward, Mark D.

2015-01-01

Studies of the early-life origins of adult physical functioning and mortality have found that childhood health and socioeconomic context are important predictors, often irrespective of adult experiences. However, these studies have generally assessed functioning and mortality as distinct processes and used cross-sectional prevalence estimates that neglect the interplay of disability incidence, recovery, and mortality. Here, we examine whether early-life disadvantages both shorten lives and increase the number and fraction of years lived with functional impairment. We also examine the degree to which educational attainment mediates and moderates the health consequences of early-life disadvantages. Using the 1998–2008 Health and Retirement Study, we examine these questions for non-Hispanic whites and blacks aged 50–100 years using multistate life tables. Within levels of educational attainment, adults from disadvantaged childhoods lived fewer total and active years, and spent a greater portion of life impaired compared with adults from advantaged childhoods. Higher levels of education did not ameliorate the health consequences of disadvantaged childhoods. However, because education had a larger impact on health than did childhood socioeconomic context, adults from disadvantaged childhoods who achieved high education levels often had total and active life expectancies that were similar to or better than those of adults from advantaged childhoods who achieved low education levels. PMID:24281740

Gender Differences in Educational Attainment: The Case of Doctoral Degrees in Norway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mastekaasa, Arne

2005-01-01

Despite strong trends in most Western countries towards gender equality in educational attainments, men are still considerably more likely to obtain doctoral degrees. Using data comprising nearly all students graduating from Norwegian universities during 1981-1996, separate event history analyses are carried out of recruitment to and completion of…

Health and the Educational Attainment of Adolescents: Evidence from the NLSY97

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haas, Steven A.; Fosse, Nathan Edward

2008-01-01

This article examines the mechanisms linking health to the educational attainment of adolescents. In particular, it investigates the role of cognitive/academic achievement and a variety of psychosocial adjustment factors in explaining this relationship. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (NLSY97), we estimate…

Household Structure and Children's Educational Attainment: A Perspective on Coresidence with Grandparents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monserud, Maria A.; Elder, Glen H., Jr.

2011-01-01

Children from alternative households complete fewer years of schooling. Yet little is known about the implications of coresidence with grandparents for educational attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,083), this study found that extended households with two biological parents were not detrimental…

Intergenerational Correlations in Educational Attainment: Birth Order and Family Size Effects Using Canadian Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sen, Anindya; Clemente, Anthony

2010-01-01

We exploit the 1986, 1994, and 2001 waves of the Canadian general social surveys in order to estimate intergenerational correlations in education. The use of these specific data is important because of available information on the final educational attainment of survey respondents and both parents, as well as family size and birth order. OLS…

Emergy Evaluation of the United States, U.S. Education, Educational Attainment and the National Financial System from 1950 through 2016

EPA Science Inventory

Past work quantifying the emergy basis for the U.S. economy, the U.S. education system and the educational attainment of the population through 2011 is brought up to date with the most recent data available from the U.S. Statistical Abstracts as well as other critical information...

Wilderness Schooling: A Controlled Trial of the Impact of an Outdoor Education Programme on Attainment Outcomes in Primary School Pupils

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quibell, T.; Charlton, J.; Law, J.

2017-01-01

Gaps in education attainment between high and low achieving children in the primary school years are frequently evidenced in educational reports. Linked to social disadvantage, these gaps have detrimental long-term effects on learning. There is a need to close the gap in attainment by addressing barriers to learning and offering alternative…

Educational attainment, gender and health inequalities among older adults in Catalonia (Spain).

PubMed

Solé-Auró, Aïda; Alcañiz, Manuela

2016-08-04

Health expectancies vary worldwide according to socioeconomic status (SES), with health disadvantages being evident among lower SES groups. Using educational attainment as a proxy of SES, we seek to identify trends in SES differentials in health by gender, with a particular focus on individuals with low educational attainment in the adult Catalan population (Spain) aged 55 or older. Using cross-sectional data for 1994 and 2010-2014 drawn from the Catalan Health Survey, we examined three health indicators to document social health inequalities: self-perceived health, functional limitations, and restrictions on activities of daily living (ADL). We applied logistic models for each indicator, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, health coverage and health behaviours. Among the less-educated, females presented a greater improvement in their self-perceived health over time than did their male counterparts, there being no significant variations among the medium/high educated. Regardless of education, males showed an increase in the prevalence of functional problems (as did the women, but the increase was not statistically significant). Both genders presented a higher prevalence of limitations when performing ADL in the second time period. The gender health gap was reduced slightly both for the low and the medium/high educated, expect in the case of ADL restrictions. Health and functioning differences by education level persisted, but showed significant signs of reduction. Less-educated females constitute the most disadvantaged group in terms of health and personal autonomy, though there are encouraging signs that the gap is closing both in terms of gender and level of education. Health policymakers need to devote particular attention to the aging population with low SES, especially to women. Public programmes promoting greater protection and equity, while fostering preventive and healthy practices, need to target the most underprivileged.

How robust is the calculation of health inequality trends by educational attainment in England and Wales using the Longitudinal Study?

PubMed

Flanagan, L; McCartney, G

2015-06-01

Inequalities in mortality by educational attainment are wider in Eastern Europe than in West and Central Europe, but have thus far been largely limited to cross-sectional analyses. This study explored the potential to use the Longitudinal Study to describe trends in mortality inequality by educational attainment in England and Wales from 1971 to 2009 and the limitations in the available data. Comparison of cohort studies. Data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study were used which takes a sample of respondees from each Census (1971-2001) and links them to death certification. Age-standardized mortality was calculated by educational attainment for those aged 25-69 years as was the Relative Index of Inequality and Slope Index of Inequality for men and women for each time period. Overall mortality declined in all categories of educational attainment for men and women from 1971. Limited data were collected on educational attainment in the Censuses prior to 2001, combined with the high proportion of respondents with missing data or reporting 'no education', meant that estimates of inequalities for the period 1971 to 2000 were very imprecise and likely to be misleading. For 2001-2009, the slope index of inequality was 268 (95% CI 57-478) and relative index of inequality was 0.61 (95% CI 0.13-1.10) for the total population; 354 (95% CI 72-636) and 0.67 (95% CI 0.14-1.21) respectively for men; and 231 (95% CI 72-389) and 0.66 (95% CI 0.21-1.11) respectively for women. Limited educational data in the Censuses prior to 2001 makes calculation of mortality inequalities by educational attainment in England and Wales imprecise and potentially misleading. International comparisons and time trend analyses using these data prior to 2001 should be done with great caution. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The fiscal consequences of ADHD in Germany: a quantitative analysis based on differences in educational attainment and lifetime earnings.

PubMed

Kotsopoulos, Nikolaos; Connolly, Mark P; Sobanski, Esther; Postma, Maarten J

2013-03-01

To estimate the long-term fiscal consequences of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the German government and social insurance system based on differences in educational attainment and the resulting differences in lifetime earnings compared with non-ADHD cohorts. Differences in educational attainment between ADHD and non-ADHD cohorts were linked to education-specific earnings data. Direct and indirect tax rates and social insurance contributions were linked to differences in lifetime, education-specific earnings to derive lost tax revenue in Germany associated with ADHD. For ADHD and non-ADHD cohorts we derived the age-specific discounted net taxes paid by deducting lifetime transfers from lifetime gross taxes paid. The lifetime net tax revenue for a non-ADHD individual was approximately EUR 80,000 higher compared to an untreated ADHD individual. The fiscal burden of untreated ADHD, based on a cohort of n=31,844 born in 2010, was estimated at EUR 2.5 billion in net tax revenue losses compared with an equally-sized non-ADHD cohort. ADHD interventions providing a small improvement in educational attainment resulted in fiscal benefits from increases in lifetime tax gains. ADHD results in long-term financial loss due to lower education attainment and lifetime reduced earnings and resulting lifetime taxes and social contributions paid. Investments in ADHD interventions allowing more children to achieve their educational potential may offer fiscal benefits generating a positive rate of return.

Racial Differences in the Formation of Postsecondary Educational Expectations: A Structural Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Museus, Samuel D.; Harper, Shaun R.; Nichols, Andrew H.

2010-01-01

Background: Educational attainment is associated with a plethora of positive economic and social implications for individuals, institutions, and the broader society. One factor that has been identified as an important predictor of students' educational attainment is their educational expectations. Thus, understanding how educational expectations…

Staff Helping Attain Relevant Education (Project SHARE): Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranadive, Jyoti

Project SHARE (Staff Helping Attain Relevant Education), a project funded by Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was in its third and final year of operation in 1992-93, in eight primary schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan (New York). The project served 141 limited English proficient students from low-income families…

Associations of educational attainment, occupation and community poverty with knee osteoarthritis in the Johnston County (North Carolina) osteoarthritis project.

PubMed

Callahan, Leigh F; Cleveland, Rebecca J; Shreffler, Jack; Schwartz, Todd A; Schoster, Britta; Randolph, Randy; Renner, Jordan B; Jordan, Joanne M

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis (OA) Project for independent associations of educational attainment, occupation and community poverty with tibiofemoral knee OA. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 3,591 individuals (66% Caucasian and 34% African American). Educational attainment (< 12 years or ≥12 years), occupation (non-managerial or not), and census block group household poverty rate (< 12%, 12 to 25%, > 25%) were examined separately and together in logistic models adjusting for covariates of age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), smoking, knee injury and occupational activity score. Outcomes were presence of radiographic knee OA (rOA), symptomatic knee OA (sxOA), bilateral rOA and bilateral sxOA. When all three socioeconomic status (SES) variables were analyzed simultaneously, low educational attainment was significantly associated with rOA (odds ratio (OR) = 1.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20, 1.73), bilateral rOA (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.13, 1.81), and sxOA (OR = 1.66, 95% CI 1.34, 2.06), after adjusting for covariates. Independently, living in a community of high household poverty rate was associated with rOA (OR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.43, 2.36), bilateral rOA (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.12, 2.16), and sxOA (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.00, 1.83). Occupation had no significant independent association beyond educational attainment and community poverty. Both educational attainment and community SES were independently associated with knee OA after adjusting for primary risk factors for knee OA.

Association between childhood allergic diseases, educational attainment and occupational status in later life: systematic review protocol

PubMed Central

von Kobyletzki, Laura Beate; Beckman, Linda; Smeeth, Liam; McKee, Martin; Abuabara, Katrina; Langan, Sinead

2017-01-01

Introduction Childhood allergic diseases may prevent affected children from achieving their academic potential. Potential mechanisms include absence from school due to illness and medical appointments. Experience of symptoms in classes or leisure time, and stigma associated with visible signs and symptoms, including skin disease, requirements for medication during school time or the need for specific diets, may also contribute to reduced educational attainment. Studies have investigated the association between specific allergic diseases and educational attainment. The aim of this study is to systematically review the literature on allergic diseases, educational attainment and occupational status, and if possible, calculate meta-analytic summary estimates for the associations. Methods Systematic electronic searches in Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO and education Resources Information Center (ERIC); hand search in reference lists of included papers and conference reports; search for unpublished studies in clinical trial registers and the New York Academy of Medicine Grey Literature Report; data extraction; and study quality assessment (Newcastle-Ottawa Scale) will be performed. Analysis Data will be summarised descriptively, and meta-analysis including meta-regression to explore sources of heterogeneities will be performed if possible. Ethics and dissemination Dissemination in a peer-reviewed, open-access, international scientific journal is planned. PROSPERO registration number CRD42017058036. PMID:29025838

Academic attainment and special educational needs in extremely preterm children at 11 years of age: the EPICure study.

PubMed

Johnson, S; Hennessy, E; Smith, R; Trikic, R; Wolke, D; Marlow, N

2009-07-01

To assess academic attainment and special educational needs (SEN) in extremely preterm children in middle childhood. Of 307 extremely preterm (< or =25 weeks) survivors born in the UK and Ireland in 1995, 219 (71%) were re-assessed at 11 years of age and compared to 153 classmates born at term, using standardised tests of cognitive ability and academic attainment and teacher reports of school performance and SEN. Multiple imputation was used to correct for selective dropout. Extremely preterm children had significantly lower scores than classmates for cognitive ability (-20 points; 95% CI -23 to -17), reading (-18 points; -22 to -15) and mathematics (-27 points; -31 to -23). Twenty nine (13%) extremely preterm children attended special school. In mainstream schools, 105 (57%) extremely preterm children had SEN (OR 10; 6 to 18) and 103 (55%) required SEN resource provision (OR 10; 6 to 18). Teachers rated 50% of extremely preterm children as having below average attainment compared with 5% of classmates (OR 18; 8 to 41). Extremely preterm children who entered compulsory education an academic year early due to preterm birth had similar academic attainment but required more SEN support (OR 2; 1.0 to 3.6). Extremely preterm survivors remain at high risk for learning impairments and poor academic attainment in middle childhood. A significant proportion require full-time specialist education and over half of those attending mainstream schools require additional health or educational resources to access the national curriculum. The prevalence and impact of SEN are likely to increase as these children approach the transition to secondary school.

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

PubMed Central

Okbay, Aysu; Beauchamp, Jonathan P.; Fontana, Mark A.; Lee, James J.; Pers, Tune H.; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Turley, Patrick; Chen, Guo-Bo; Emilsson, Valur; Meddens, S. Fleur W.; Oskarsson, Sven; Pickrell, Joseph K.; Thom, Kevin; Timshel, Pascal; de Vlaming, Ronald; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S.; Bacelis, Jonas; Baumbach, Clemens; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Brandsma, Johannes H.; Concas, Maria Pina; Derringer, Jaime; Furlotte, Nicholas A.; Galesloot, Tessel E.; Girotto, Giorgia; Gupta, Richa; Hall, Leanne M.; Harris, Sarah E.; Hofer, Edith; Horikoshi, Momoko; Huffman, Jennifer E.; Kaasik, Kadri; Kalafati, Ioanna P.; Karlsson, Robert; Kong, Augustine; Lahti, Jari; van der Lee, Sven J.; de Leeuw, Christiaan; Lind, Penelope A.; Lindgren, Karl-Oskar; Liu, Tian; Mangino, Massimo; Marten, Jonathan; Mihailov, Evelin; Miller, Michael B.; van der Most, Peter J.; Oldmeadow, Christopher; Payton, Antony; Pervjakova, Natalia; Peyrot, Wouter J.; Qian, Yong; Raitakari, Olli; Rueedi, Rico; Salvi, Erika; Schmidt, Börge; Schraut, Katharina E.; Shi, Jianxin; Smith, Albert V.; Poot, Raymond A.; Pourcain, Beate; Teumer, Alexander; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Verweij, Niek; Vuckovic, Dragana; Wellmann, Juergen; Westra, Harm-Jan; Yang, Jingyun; Zhao, Wei; Zhu, Zhihong; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Amin, Najaf; Bakshi, Andrew; Baumeister, Sebastian E.; Biino, Ginevra; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Boyle, Patricia A.; Campbell, Harry; Cappuccio, Francesco P.; Davies, Gail; De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel; Deloukas, Panos; Demuth, Ilja; Ding, Jun; Eibich, Peter; Eisele, Lewin; Eklund, Niina; Evans68, David M.; Faul, Jessica D.; Feitosa, Mary F.; Forstner, Andreas J.; Gandin, Ilaria; Gunnarsson, Bjarni; Halldórsson, Bjarni V.; Harris, Tamara B.; Heath, Andrew C.; Hocking, Lynne J.; Holliday, Elizabeth G.; Homuth, Georg; Horan, Michael A.; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; de Jager, Philip L.; Joshi, Peter K.; Jugessur, Astanand; Kaakinen, Marika A.; Kähönen, Mika; Kanoni, Stavroula; Keltigangas-Järvinen, Liisa; Kiemeney, Lambertus A.L.M.; Kolcic, Ivana; Koskinen, Seppo; Kraja, Aldi T.; Kroh, Martin; Kutalik, Zoltan; Latvala, Antti; Launer, Lenore J.; Lebreton, Maël P.; Levinson, Douglas F.; Lichtenstein, Paul; Lichtner, Peter; Liewald, David C.M.; Loukola, Anu; Madden, Pamela A.; Mägi, Reedik; Mäki-Opas, Tomi; Marioni, Riccardo E.; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Meddens, Gerardus A.; McMahon, George; Meisinger, Christa; Meitinger, Thomas; Milaneschi, Yusplitri; Milani, Lili; Montgomery, Grant W.; Myhre, Ronny; Nelson, Christopher P.; Nyholt, Dale R.; Ollier, William E.R.; Palotie, Aarno; Paternoster, Lavinia; Pedersen, Nancy L.; Petrovic, Katja E.; Porteous, David J.; Räikkönen, Katri; Ring, Susan M.; Robino, Antonietta; Rostapshova, Olga; Rudan, Igor; Rustichini, Aldo; Salomaa, Veikko; Sanders, Alan R.; Sarin, Antti-Pekka; Schmidt, Helena; Scott, Rodney J.; Smith, Blair H.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Staessen, Jan A.; Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth; Strauch, Konstantin; Terracciano, Antonio; Tobin, Martin D.; Ulivi, Sheila; Vaccargiu, Simona; Quaye, Lydia; van Rooij, Frank J.A.; Venturini, Cristina; Vinkhuyzen, Anna A.E.; Völker, Uwe; Völzke, Henry; Vonk, Judith M.; Vozzi, Diego; Waage, Johannes; Ware, Erin B.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Attia, John R.; Bennett, David A.; Berger, Klaus; Bertram, Lars; Bisgaard, Hans; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Borecki, Ingrid B.; Bultmann, Ute; Chabris, Christopher F.; Cucca, Francesco; Cusi, Daniele; Deary, Ian J.; Dedoussis, George V.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Franke, Barbara; Franke, Lude; Gasparini, Paolo; Gejman, Pablo V.; Gieger, Christian; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Gratten, Jacob; Groenen, Patrick J.F.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; van der Harst, Pim; Hayward, Caroline; Hinds, David A.; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hyppönen, Elina; Iacono, William G.; Jacobsson, Bo; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kardia, Sharon L.R.; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lehrer, Steven F.; Magnusson, Patrik K.E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; McGue, Matt; Metspalu, Andres; Pendleton, Neil; Penninx, Brenda W.J.H.; Perola, Markus; Pirastu, Nicola; Pirastu, Mario; Polasek, Ozren; Posthuma, Danielle; Power, Christine; Province, Michael A.; Samani, Nilesh J.; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Reinhold; Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.; Spector, Tim D.; Stefansson, Kari; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thurik, A. Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Tiemeier, Henning; Tung, Joyce Y.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Vitart, Veronique; Vollenweider, Peter; Weir, David R.; Wilson, James F.; Wright, Alan F.; Conley, Dalton C.; Krueger, Robert F.; Smith, George Davey; Hofman, Albert; Laibson, David I.; Medland, Sarah E.; Meyer, Michelle N.; Yang, Jian; Johannesson, Magnus; Visscher, Peter M.; Esko, Tõnu; Koellinger, Philipp D.; Cesarini, David; Benjamin, Daniel J.

2016-01-01

Summary Educational attainment (EA) is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are also estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals1. We report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for EA that extends our earlier discovery sample1,2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We now identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioral phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because EA is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric disease. PMID:27225129

Diet and physical activity as possible mediators of the association between educational attainment and body mass index gain among Australian adults.

PubMed

Gearon, Emma; Peeters, Anna; Ng, Winda; Hodge, Allison; Backholer, Kathryn

2018-04-23

To quantify the mediating role of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and five dietary behaviours on educational differences in 13-year body mass index (BMI) gain across adulthood. Participants from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (4791 women; 3103 men) who maintained or gained BMI over 1990-1994 to 2003-2007 and met our inclusion criteria were selected. Education, potential mediators and confounders (age, alcohol, and smoking) were measured at baseline. We conducted sex-specific multiple mediation analyses using MacKinnon's product of coefficients method. A higher educational attainment was associated with a 0.27 kg m -2 (95% CI 0.14, 0.39) lesser 13-year BMI gain among women only. We observed significant indirect effects of educational attainment on 13-year BMI gain through LTPA and nutrient-rich foods (each associated with a higher educational attainment and lesser 13-year BMI gain) and diet soft drink (associated with a lower educational attainment and greater 13-year BMI gain), which mediated 10, 15 and 20% of this relationship, respectively (45% in total). Nutrient-rich foods, LTPA and diet soft drink may represent effective public health targets to reduce inequities in excess weight across adulthood.

Exploring the Wealth Returns to Latino Higher Educational Attainment: Estimates of Work-Life Earnings Profiles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robles, Barbara J.

2009-01-01

A significant research gap exists in our knowledge of how educational attainment affects wealth building and intergenerational wealth transfers among Latinos. Wealth includes earnings but is a much wider and more fundamental measure of economic mobility. The education-earnings-wealth relationship is explored by constructing estimates of social…

Trades-Related Post-Secondary Educational Attainment among Immigrant and Canadian-Born Young Adults in Alberta

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hira-Friesen, Parvinder Kaur; Haan, Michael; Krahn, Harvey

2013-01-01

This paper examines trades-related and university educational attainment (by age 25) of immigrant and Canadian-born Alberta youth while controlling for gender, family socio-economic status, high school grades, and parental encouragement regarding higher education. Data from the longitudinal Alberta School-Work Transitions Study (1996-2003) reveal…

Postsecondary Education Expectations and Attainment of Rural and Nonrural Students. Stated Briefly. REL 2017-233

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molefe, Ayrin; Proger, Amy; Burke, Matthew R.

2017-01-01

This study examined rural-nonrural differences in postsecondary educational expectations and the attainment of expectations for grade 10 students attending rural and nonrural high schools in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest region and how these differences compare with rural-nonrural differences in the rest of the nation. For…

Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Postsecondary Educational Attainment. State of Maine, 120th Legislature, First Regular Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, David C.

In response to growing concern about the impact on economic prosperity resulting from the low level of higher educational attainment in Maine, two bills calling for study of that issue were introduced in the 120th Maine Legislature. A commission was created to develop a plan to improve the state's level of higher educational attainment. This…

Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: a policy experiment in India.

PubMed

Beaman, Lori; Duflo, Esther; Pande, Rohini; Topalova, Petia

2012-02-03

Exploiting a randomized natural experiment in India, we show that female leadership influences adolescent girls' career aspirations and educational attainment. A 1993 law reserved leadership positions for women in randomly selected village councils. Using 8453 surveys of adolescents aged 11 to 15 and their parents in 495 villages, we found that, relative to villages in which such positions were never reserved, the gender gap in aspirations closed by 20% in parents and 32% in adolescents in villages assigned a female leader for two election cycles. The gender gap in adolescent educational attainment was erased, and girls spent less time on household chores. We found no evidence of changes in young women's labor market opportunities, which suggests that the impact of women leaders primarily reflects a role model effect.

Female Leadership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls: A Policy Experiment in India

PubMed Central

Beaman, Lori; Duflo, Esther; Pande, Rohini; Topalova, Petia

2012-01-01

Exploiting a randomized natural experiment in India, we show that female leadership influences adolescent girls’ career aspirations and educational attainment. A 1993 law reserved leadership positions for women in randomly selected village councils. Using 8,453 surveys of adolescents aged 11–15 and their parents in 495 villages, we find that, compared to villages that were never reserved, the gender gap in aspirations closed by 25% in parents and 32% in adolescents in villages assigned to a female leader for two election cycles. The gender gap in adolescent educational attainment is erased and girls spent less time on household chores. We find no evidence of changes in young women’s labor market opportunities, suggesting that the impact of women leaders primarily reflects a role model effect. PMID:22245740

Preference for Boys, Family Size, and Educational Attainment in India.

PubMed

Kugler, Adriana D; Kumar, Santosh

2017-06-01

Using data from nationally representative household surveys, we test whether Indian parents make trade-offs between the number of children and investments in education. To address the endogeneity due to the joint determination of quantity and quality of children, we instrument family size with the gender of the first child, which is plausibly random. Given a strong son preference in India, parents tend to have more children if the firstborn is a girl. Our instrumental variable results show that children from larger families have lower educational attainment and are less likely to be enrolled in school, with larger effects for rural, poorer, and low-caste families as well as for families with illiterate mothers.

Racial disparities in the health benefits of educational attainment: a study of inflammatory trajectories among African American and white adults.

PubMed

Fuller-Rowell, Thomas E; Curtis, David S; Doan, Stacey N; Coe, Christopher L

2015-01-01

The current study examined the prospective effects of educational attainment on proinflammatory physiology among African American and white adults. Participants were 1192 African Americans and 1487 whites who participated in Year 5 (mean [standard deviation] age = 30 [3.5] years), and Year 20 (mean [standard deviation] age = 45 [3.5]) of an ongoing longitudinal study. Initial analyses focused on age-related changes in fibrinogen across racial groups, and parallel analyses for C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 assessed at Year 20. Models then estimated the effects of educational attainment on changes in inflammation for African Americans and whites before and after controlling for four blocks of covariates: a) early life adversity, b) health and health behaviors at baseline, c) employment and financial measures at baseline and follow-up, and d) psychosocial stresses in adulthood. African Americans had larger increases in fibrinogen over time than whites (B = 24.93, standard error = 3.24, p < .001), and 37% of this difference was explained after including all covariates. Effects of educational attainment were weaker for African Americans than for whites (B = 10.11, standard error = 3.29, p = .002), and only 8% of this difference was explained by covariates. Analyses for C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 yielded consistent results. The effects of educational attainment on inflammation levels were stronger for white than for African American participants. Why African Americans do not show the same health benefits with educational attainment is an important question for health disparities research.

Genome-wide association study of cognitive functions and educational attainment in UK Biobank (N=112 151)

PubMed Central

Davies, G; Marioni, R E; Liewald, D C; Hill, W D; Hagenaars, S P; Harris, S E; Ritchie, S J; Luciano, M; Fawns-Ritchie, C; Lyall, D; Cullen, B; Cox, S R; Hayward, C; Porteous, D J; Evans, J; McIntosh, A M; Gallacher, J; Craddock, N; Pell, J P; Smith, D J; Gale, C R; Deary, I J

2016-01-01

People's differences in cognitive functions are partly heritable and are associated with important life outcomes. Previous genome-wide association (GWA) studies of cognitive functions have found evidence for polygenic effects yet, to date, there are few replicated genetic associations. Here we use data from the UK Biobank sample to investigate the genetic contributions to variation in tests of three cognitive functions and in educational attainment. GWA analyses were performed for verbal–numerical reasoning (N=36 035), memory (N=112 067), reaction time (N=111 483) and for the attainment of a college or a university degree (N=111 114). We report genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based associations in 20 genomic regions, and significant gene-based findings in 46 regions. These include findings in the ATXN2, CYP2DG, APBA1 and CADM2 genes. We report replication of these hits in published GWA studies of cognitive function, educational attainment and childhood intelligence. There is also replication, in UK Biobank, of SNP hits reported previously in GWA studies of educational attainment and cognitive function. GCTA-GREML analyses, using common SNPs (minor allele frequency>0.01), indicated significant SNP-based heritabilities of 31% (s.e.m.=1.8%) for verbal–numerical reasoning, 5% (s.e.m.=0.6%) for memory, 11% (s.e.m.=0.6%) for reaction time and 21% (s.e.m.=0.6%) for educational attainment. Polygenic score analyses indicate that up to 5% of the variance in cognitive test scores can be predicted in an independent cohort. The genomic regions identified include several novel loci, some of which have been associated with intracranial volume, neurodegeneration, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. PMID:27046643

The educational background and qualifications of UK medical students from ethnic minorities.

PubMed

McManus, I C; Woolf, Katherine; Dacre, Jane

2008-04-16

UK medical students and doctors from ethnic minorities underperform in undergraduate and postgraduate examinations. Although it is assumed that white (W) and non-white (NW) students enter medical school with similar qualifications, neither the qualifications of NW students, nor their educational background have been looked at in detail. This study uses two large-scale databases to examine the educational attainment of W and NW students. Attainment at GCSE and A level, and selection for medical school in relation to ethnicity, were analysed in two separate databases. The 10th cohort of the Youth Cohort Study provided data on 13,698 students taking GCSEs in 1999 in England and Wales, and their subsequent progression to A level. UCAS provided data for 1,484,650 applicants applying for admission to UK universities and colleges in 2003, 2004 and 2005, of whom 52,557 applied to medical school, and 23,443 were accepted. NW students achieve lower grades at GCSE overall, although achievement at the highest grades was similar to that of W students. NW students have higher educational aspirations, being more likely to go on to take A levels, especially in science and particularly chemistry, despite relatively lower achievement at GCSE. As a result, NW students perform less well at A level than W students, and hence NW students applying to university also have lower A-level grades than W students, both generally, and for medical school applicants. NW medical school entrants have lower A level grades than W entrants, with an effect size of about -0.10. The effect size for the difference between white and non-white medical school entrants is about B0.10, which would mean that for a typical medical school examination there might be about 5 NW failures for each 4 W failures. However, this effect can only explain a portion of the overall effect size found in undergraduate and postgraduate examinations of about -0.32.

The population attributable fraction of low education for mortality in South Korea with improvement in educational attainment and no improvement in mortality inequalities.

PubMed

Lim, Dohee; Kong, Kyoung Ae; Lee, Hye Ah; Lee, Won Kyung; Park, Su Hyun; Baik, Sun Jung; Park, Hyesook; Jung-Choi, Kyunghee

2015-03-31

The educational attainment of Koreans has greatly increased, which was expected to reduce the magnitude of the population attributable fraction (PAF) of mortality associated with low education levels. However, increase in the relative risk (RR) of mortality among those with lower educational levels actually increased the PAF. The purpose of this study was to examine the change in the PAF of lower educational levels for mortality in Korea, where educational attainment has improved and is associated with the exacerbation of inequalities in mortality levels. National census data were used to derive educational levels. The mortality-associated RR of lower educational levels was calculated by reference to national census and death certificate data from 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. PAFs were calculated for all-cause mortality, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, and suicide by gender and age group (30-44 and 45-59 years). The PAF of low educational level in terms of total mortality has decreased since 1995 in both genders. This trend was more prominent among those aged 30-44 years. However, the PAFs of suicide in younger females (30-44 years) and of cerebrovascular disease in older males (45-59 years) have increased. The RRs of all-cause mortality and those of the four leading causes of death in those with the lowest educational levels have increased, especially in females aged 30-44 years. The consistent and sharp increase in the attainment of education has contributed to the reduction in the PAFs of lower education for mortality, despite the fact that mortality inequalities have not improved. Efforts to reduce health inequalities must promote healthy public policy and address public health policies.

Increased educational attainment and its effect on child mortality in 175 countries between 1970 and 2009: a systematic analysis.

PubMed

Gakidou, Emmanuela; Cowling, Krycia; Lozano, Rafael; Murray, Christopher J L

2010-09-18

In addition to the inherent importance of education and its essential role in economic growth, education and health are strongly related. We updated previous systematic assessments of educational attainment, and estimated the contribution of improvements in women's education to reductions in child mortality in the past 40 years. We compiled 915 censuses and nationally representative surveys, and estimated mean number of years of education by age and sex. By use of a first-differences model, we investigated the association between child mortality and women's educational attainment, controlling for income per person and HIV seroprevalence. We then computed counterfactual estimates of child mortality for every country year between 1970 and 2009. The global mean number of years of education increased from 4·7 years (95% uncertainty interval 4·4-5·1) to 8·3 years (8·0-8·6) for men (aged ≥25 years) and from 3·5 years (3·2-3·9) to 7·1 years (6·7 -7·5) for women (aged ≥25 years). For women of reproductive age (15-44 years) in developing countries, the years of schooling increased from 2·2 years (2·0-2·4) to 7·2 years (6·8-7·6). By 2009, in 87 countries, women (aged 25-34 years) had higher educational attainment than had men (aged 25-34 years). Of 8·2 million fewer deaths in children younger than 5 years between 1970 and 2009, we estimated that 4·2 million (51·2%) could be attributed to increased educational attainment in women of reproductive age. The substantial increase in education, especially of women, and the reversal of the gender gap have important implications not only for health but also for the status and roles of women in society. The continued increase in educational attainment even in some of the poorest countries suggests that rapid progress in terms of Millennium Development Goal 4 might be possible. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use among U.S. Young Adults by Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Martins, Silvia S.; Kim, June H.; Chen, Lian-Yu; Levin, Deysia; Keyes, Katherine M.; Cerdá, Magdalena; Storr, Carla L.

2014-01-01

PURPOSE Little is known about nonmedical use of prescription drugs among non-college attending young adults in the United States. METHODS Data was drawn from 36,781 young adults (ages 18–22 years) from the 2008–2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health public use files. The adjusted main effects for current educational attainment, along with its interaction with gender and race/ethnicity, were considered. RESULTS Compared to those attending college, non-college attending young adults with at least and less than a HS degree had a higher prevalence of past-year nonmedical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO: 13.1% and 13.2%, respectively, vs. 11.3%, adjusted Odds Ratios [aORs]: 1.21 [1.11–1.33] and 1.25 [1.12–1.40]), yet lower prevalence of prescription stimulant use. Among users, regardless of drug type, non-college attending youth were more likely to have past year disorder secondary to use (e.g., NMUPO: 17.4% and 19.1%, respectively, vs. 11.7%, aORs: 1.55 [1.22–1.98] and 1.75 [1.35–2.28]). Educational attainment interacted with gender and race: 1) among nonmedical users of prescription opioids, females who completed high school but were not enrolled in college had a significantly greater risk of opioid disorder (compared to female college students) than the same comparison for men; and 2) the risk for nonmedical use of prescription opioids was negligible across educational attainment groups for Hispanics, which was significantly different than the increased risk shown for Non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSIONS There is a need for young adult prevention and intervention programs to target nonmedical prescription drug use beyond college campuses. PMID:25427665

Convergence of Educational Attainment Levels in the OECD: More Data, More Problems?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crespo Cuaresma, Jesus

2006-01-01

This note shows that the dynamics of the dispersion of educational attainment across OECD countries in the period 1960-1990 differ enormously depending on the dataset used, as do the results of the test of significance in the change of the cross-country standard deviation of schooling years between subperiods. The three datasets studied (the…

Parental Aspirations for Their Children's Educational Attainment: Relations to Ethnicity, Parental Education, Children's Academic Performance, and Parental Perceptions of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spera, Christopher; Wentzel, Kathryn R.; Matto, Holly C.

2009-01-01

This study examined parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment in relation to ethnicity (African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic), parental education, children's academic performance, and parental perceptions of the quality and climate of their children's school with a sample of 13,577 middle and high school parents. All…

Trajectories from Academic Intrinsic Motivation to Need for Cognition and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottfried, Adele Eskeles; Nylund-Gibson, Karen; Gottfried, Allen W.; Morovati, Diane; Gonzalez, Amber M.

2017-01-01

This long-term longitudinal study addressed the theoretical underpinning of academic intrinsic motivation (AIM) from childhood through adolescence, to need for cognition (NFC) and educational attainment (EA) during adulthood. AIM was measured from 9 to 17 years old, NFC and EA at 29 years old, and IQ at 8 years old. Latent change and growth…

Early emotional and behavioral difficulties and adult educational attainment: an 18-year follow-up of the TEMPO study.

PubMed

Zbar, Ariella; Surkan, Pamela J; Fombonne, Eric; Melchior, Maria

2016-10-01

Children who experience behavioral difficulties often have short and long-term school problems. However, the relationship between emotional difficulties and later academic achievement has not been thoroughly examined. Using data from the French TEMPO study (n = 666, follow-up 1991, 1999, 2009, mean age = 10.5, sd = 4.9 at baseline), we studied associations between internalizing and externalizing symptoms in: (a) childhood and (b) adolescence and educational attainment by young adulthood (< vs. ≥ high school degree), accounting for participants' age, sex, juvenile academic difficulties, and family income. High levels of childhood (but not adolescent) internalizing and externalizing symptoms were associated with low educational attainment; however, in multivariate models only the association with childhood internalizing symptoms remained statistically significant (OR = 1.75, 95 % CI 1.00-3.02). Supporting children with internalizing problems early on could help improve their long-term educational attainment.

Intraindividual neuropsychological test variability in healthy individuals with high average intelligence and educational attainment.

PubMed

Heyanka, Daniel J; Holster, Jessica L; Golden, Charles J

2013-08-01

Knowledge of patterns of neuropsychological performance among normal, healthy individuals is integral to the practice of clinical neuropsychology, because clinicians may not always account for intraindividual variability (IIV) before coming to diagnostic conclusions. The IIV was assessed among a sample of 46 healthy individuals with high average intelligence and educational attainment, utilizing a battery of neuropsychological tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) and Wechsler Memory Scale, Fourth Edition (WMS-IV). The data indicated substantial variability in neurocognitive abilities. All participants were found to demonstrate scores considered impaired by at least 2 standard deviations (SDs). Despite adjusting for outliers, no participant produced a "normal" testing profile with an intraindividual maximum discrepancy (MD) of less than 1 SD in either direction. When WAIS-IV Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) was considered, participants generally demonstrated cognitive test scores ranging from 2 SDs less than to 1.5 SDs greater than their FSIQ. Furthermore, after demographic corrections, the majority (59%) of participants demonstrated at least 1 impaired cognitive test score, as defined by being 1 to 1.5 SDs below the mean. Overall, results substantiate the need for clinicians to consider FSIQ and educational attainment in interpretation of neuropsychological testing results, given the relevant commonality of "abnormal" test scores within this population. This may ultimately reduce the likelihood of making false-positive conclusions of impairment when educational attainment and intelligence are high, thus improving diagnostic accuracy.

Educational attainment has a limited impact on disease management outcomes in heart failure.

PubMed

Smith, Brad; Forkner, Emma; Krasuski, Richard A; Galbreath, Autumn Dawn; Freeman, Gregory L

2006-06-01

The objective of this study was to assess whether educational attainment moderates outcomes in the intervention group in a trial of disease management in heart failure (HF). Data were collected from a sample of 654 patients enrolled in the disease management arm of a community- based study of HF patients. The full sample was used to analyze two primary outcomes- all-cause mortality and cardiac event-free survival. Two other primary outcomes- rates of HF-related emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient admissions-and secondary outcomes (patient self-confidence in managing HF symptoms and daily dietary sodium intake in milligrams) were analyzed in a smaller sample of 602 patients who completed at least 6 months of disease management. One-way analysis of variance and chi (2) tests were used to assess differences in baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. Survival analyses were conducted with proportional hazards regression, while negative binomial regression was used to assess educational differences in ED usage and inpatient admissions. Repeated measures analysis of variance models were used to assess whether secondary outcomes differed across educational strata and/or over time. All outcome analyses were adjusted for confounders. Patients with the least education fared the poorest for all-cause mortality, but education- related differences failed to achieve statistical significance. No education-related differences were observed for cardiac event-free survival, or for the rates of inpatient admission and ED usage. For secondary outcomes, sodium intake differed significantly by education (p = 0.04), with the largest drop (-838 mg/day) observed in the least well-educated group. Confidence increased an approximately equal amount (2.1-3.0 points on a 100-point scale) across all educational strata (p = ns). Low educational attainment may not be a barrier to effective disease management.

Education attainment of head of households associated with insecticide-treated net utilization among five to nineteen-year old individuals: evidence from the malaria indicator survey 2010 in Zambia.

PubMed

Sichande, Mwamba; Michelo, Charles; Halwindi, Hikabasa; Miller, John

2014-09-23

Education attainment may be a factor potentially influencing health-seeking behaviour of individuals. The effect of the level of education attainment of head of households of five to nineteen year old individuals in Zambia on ITN utilization was investigated. Data stem from the 2010 Malaria Indicator Survey, which covered the entire Zambia, was used in this study. Of the total number of five to 19-year olds (n = 7,429), only 65% (4, 810) met the inclusion criteria for this study. The education level of the head of households was taken as a household variable and was categorized as "never been to school" for those who had never enrolled in school, Primary for Grades 1 to 7, Secondary for Grades 8 to 12 and Tertiary for beyond Grade 12. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to determine adjusted odds ratios that estimated the effect of education on ITN utilization after controlling for residence, sex, age group and other background factors. Overall (n = 4,810), 48.5% were males and 51.5% were females with the median age of 10 years and 11 years respectively. The ITN utilization among the five to 19 year old individuals from households with the head having Primary and Secondary education were not statistically significant from those who came from households where the head had never been to school. However, those who came from households with the head having tertiary education attainment were 1.7 times more likely to have slept under an ITN a night before the survey than those from households headed by individuals who never attended school or had primary education. (AOR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.19-2.41). Of the eligible population, 35% were excluded from the study due to incomplete records. The findings suggest that tertiary education of the head of head of the household might be important in influencing health behaviour of the members of households. Therefore, health education messages focussing on strategies that aim to increase ITN utilization need to account

Raising Educational Attainment: How Young People's Experiences Speak Back to the "Compact with Young Australians"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

te Riele, Kitty

2011-01-01

In the context of international consensus that the knowledge economy requires more highly educated people, the Australian federal, state and territory governments agreed on a set of policies and targets for lifting the minimum level of educational attainment of young people, which are analysed in Part 1 of this paper. This "Compact with young…

Pathways from parental educational attainment to adolescent blood pressure.

PubMed

Kwok, Man Ki; Schooling, Catherine Mary; Subramanian, Subu V; Leung, Gabriel M; Kawachi, Ichiro

2016-09-01

Lower parental education is associated with higher adolescent blood pressure (BP). We examined the contribution of modifiable risk factors from infancy to adolescence that could potentially explain the link between parental education and SBP and DBP in the offspring. In a prospective Chinese birth cohort, 'Children of 1997' of 5604 adolescents (68% follow-up), we analyzed the relation between parental educational attainment and sex-specific, age-specific and height-specific BP z-scores at ∼13 years. Using mediation analysis, we examined the contribution of household income at birth (both absolute income and relative income deprivation), exposures during infancy (breastfeeding and early life second-hand smoking), lifestyles during childhood (diet, physical activity and screen-time), weight or BMI status during fetal, infancy, childhood and puberty, pubertal stage as well as parental BMI. We found that adolescent BMI, but not birth weight or infant growth or childhood BMI, mediated the inverse association of parental education with adolescent SBP (proportion mediated: 24%), followed by maternal BMI (proportion mediated: 18%). Factors explaining the link between parental education and DBP were less clear. Absolute income, breastfeeding, childhood diet and physical activity, pubertal stage and paternal BMI did not mediate the association between parental education and adolescent BP. Low parental education is a risk factor for high SBP and, to a lesser extent, DBP in adolescents. Important mediators of this relation include adolescent and maternal body weight.

Educational Attainment of 25 Year Old Norwegians According to Birth Order and Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kristensen, Petter; Bjerkedal, Tor

2010-01-01

This register-based longitudinal study of 392 969 Norwegians examined associations between birth order, gender and educational attainment at age 25 years within families (fixed effects regression) and between families (ordinary OLS regression). Data were retrieved from national registers for births of mothers with single births only and a first…

Ethnic Origin and Educational Attainment: November 1969. Population Characteristics, Current Population Reports.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Charles E., Jr.

A study of educational attainment of adults (25 years old and over) in the United States (by ethnic origin) shows a wide range among the ethnic groups. The following is a breakdown of the main national lineage of the 106.3 million respondents: German, 12.8 million; English, 12.0 million; Irish, 8.6 million; Italian, 4.7 million; Polish, 2.8…

Correlating Top Agency Success with Educational Background.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donnelly, William J.

1992-01-01

Investigates whether there is any correlation between successful advertising agency careers and undergraduate education. Finds that the educational tracks pursued by executives of the top 50 advertising agencies are so varied and remarkably evenly distributed that educational background appears to have little, if any, to do with success in…

Effectiveness Measures for Cross-Sectional Studies: A Comparison of Value-Added Models and Contextualised Attainment Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenkeit, Jenny

2013-01-01

Educational effectiveness research often appeals to "value-added models (VAM)" to gauge the impact of schooling on student learning net of the effect of student background variables. A huge amount of cross-sectional studies do not, however, meet VAM's requirement for longitudinal data. "Contextualised attainment models (CAM)"…

Trends in Life Expectancy and Lifespan Variation by Educational Attainment: United States, 1990-2010.

PubMed

Sasson, Isaac

2016-04-01

The educational gradient in life expectancy is well documented in the United States and in other low-mortality countries. Highly educated Americans, on average, live longer than their low-educated counterparts, who have recently seen declines in adult life expectancy. However, limiting the discussion on lifespan inequality to mean differences alone overlooks other dimensions of inequality and particularly disparities in lifespan variation. The latter represents a unique form of inequality, with higher variation translating into greater uncertainty in the time of death from an individual standpoint, and higher group heterogeneity from a population perspective. Using data from the National Vital Statistics System from 1990 to 2010, this is the first study to document trends in both life expectancy and S25--the standard deviation of age at death above 25--by educational attainment. Among low-educated whites, adult life expectancy declined by 3.1 years for women and by 0.6 years for men. At the same time, S25 increased by about 1.5 years among high school-educated whites of both genders, becoming an increasingly important component of total lifespan inequality. By contrast, college-educated whites benefited from rising life expectancy and record low variation in age at death, consistent with the shifting mortality scenario. Among blacks, adult life expectancy increased, and S25 plateaued or declined in nearly all educational attainment groups, although blacks generally lagged behind whites of the same gender on both measures. Documenting trends in lifespan variation can therefore improve our understanding of lifespan inequality and point to diverging trajectories in adult mortality across socioeconomic strata.

Natural mentors, racial identity, and educational attainment among african american adolescents: exploring pathways to success.

PubMed

Hurd, Noelle M; Sánchez, Bernadette; Zimmerman, Marc A; Caldwell, Cleopatra H

2012-01-01

The present study explored how relationships with natural mentors may contribute to African American adolescents' long-term educational attainment by influencing adolescents' racial identity and academic beliefs. This study included 541 academically at-risk African American adolescents transitioning into adulthood. The mean age of participants at Time 1 was 17.8 (SD = .64) and slightly over half (54%) of study participants were female. Results of the current study indicated that relationships with natural mentors promoted more positive long-term educational attainment among participants through increased private regard (a dimension of racial identity) and stronger beliefs in the importance of doing well in school for future success. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Access to Democracy Project: Community Report on Attitudes Regarding Educational Attainment. Grand Rapids (Michigan) Surrounding Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daun-Barnett, Nathan J.; Bowman, Nicholas A.

2005-01-01

The "Access to Democracy" project has two broad goals. It is an effort to understand community beliefs, attitudes and conditions that shape educational outcomes for community youth, and it is a way to focus community discussions on efforts that support higher educational attainment for residents. This report focuses on the lessons…

Modeling the Role of Community Colleges in Increasing Educational Attainment and Workforce Preparedness. BHEF Working Paper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Business-Higher Education Forum (NJ1), 2010

2010-01-01

In light of recent data showing that educational attainment rates in the United States have stagnated, the Obama administration and others have called for renewed efforts to bolster higher education outcomes. Strengthening the role of community colleges is undoubtedly an important component of any plan to dramatically increase the number of…

A socioeconomic and behavioral survey of patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes mellitus reveals an association between diabetic retinopathy and educational attainment.

PubMed

Emoto, Naoya; Okajima, Fumitaka; Sugihara, Hitoshi; Goto, Rei

2016-01-01

We have recently reported that the attitude of patients toward risk could be a factor in the progression of diabetic complications. In general, risk preference is closely related to socioeconomic status (SES), which includes factors such as age, sex, income, and educational attainment. We aimed to determine the effect of SES and behavioral propensity on the progress of diabetic complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We conducted a survey of 238 patients with difficult-to-control T2DM treated at a hospital in Japan using a modified behavioral economics questionnaire that included questions related to SES. The patients had been referred by general practitioners or other departments in the hospital because of poor metabolic control or unstable complications. Educational attainment was significantly associated with progression of retinopathy in patients <65 years of age. Educational attainment of a high school diploma (12 years of education) or lower was a significant risk factor, but there were no differences among levels of attainment beyond high school (13-16 years or more of education). Behavioral propensities were also weakly associated with complications, but not as much as educational attainment. Personal income level and economic status did not show an association with the retinopathy levels. Lower educational attainment is a strong risk factor for diabetic retinopathy, and it is independent of the economic status. The result suggests that cognitive function may play an important role in the progression of diabetic retinopathy in patients with T2DM.

Maternal thyroid function and child educational attainment: prospective cohort study.

PubMed

Nelson, Scott M; Haig, Caroline; McConnachie, Alex; Sattar, Naveed; Ring, Susan M; Smith, George D; Lawlor, Debbie A; Lindsay, Robert S

2018-02-20

To determine if first trimester maternal thyroid dysfunction is a critical determinant of child scholastic performance and overall educational attainment. Prospective cohort study. Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort in the UK. 4615 mother-child pairs with an available first trimester sample (median 10 weeks gestation, interquartile range 8-12). Free thyroxine, thyroid stimulating hormone, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies assessed as continuous measures and the seven clinical categories of maternal thyroid function. Five age-specific national curriculum assessments in 3580 children at entry stage assessment at 54 months, increasing up to 4461 children at their final school assessment at age 15. No strong evidence of clinically meaningful associations of first trimester free thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone levels with entry stage assessment score or Standard Assessment Test scores at any of the key stages was found. Associations of maternal free thyroxine or thyroid stimulating hormone with the total number of General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) passed (range 0-16) were all close to the null: free thyroxine, rate ratio per pmol/L 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00 to 1.01); and thyroid stimulating hormone, rate ratio 0.98 (0.94 to 1.02). No important relationship was observed when more detailed capped scores of GCSEs allowing for both the number and grade of pass or when language, mathematics, and science performance were examined individually or when all educational assessments undertaken by an individual from school entry to leaving were considered. 200 (4.3%) mothers were newly identified as having hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism and 97 (2.1%) subclinical hyperthyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Children of mothers with thyroid dysfunction attained an equivalent number of GCSEs and equivalent grades as children of mothers with euthyroidism. Maternal thyroid dysfunction in early pregnancy does not have a

Maternal thyroid function and child educational attainment: prospective cohort study

PubMed Central

Haig, Caroline; McConnachie, Alex; Sattar, Naveed; Ring, Susan M; Smith, George D; Lawlor, Debbie A; Lindsay, Robert S

2018-01-01

Abstract Objective To determine if first trimester maternal thyroid dysfunction is a critical determinant of child scholastic performance and overall educational attainment. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort in the UK. Participants 4615 mother-child pairs with an available first trimester sample (median 10 weeks gestation, interquartile range 8-12). Exposures Free thyroxine, thyroid stimulating hormone, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies assessed as continuous measures and the seven clinical categories of maternal thyroid function. Main outcome measures Five age-specific national curriculum assessments in 3580 children at entry stage assessment at 54 months, increasing up to 4461 children at their final school assessment at age 15. Results No strong evidence of clinically meaningful associations of first trimester free thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone levels with entry stage assessment score or Standard Assessment Test scores at any of the key stages was found. Associations of maternal free thyroxine or thyroid stimulating hormone with the total number of General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) passed (range 0-16) were all close to the null: free thyroxine, rate ratio per pmol/L 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00 to 1.01); and thyroid stimulating hormone, rate ratio 0.98 (0.94 to 1.02). No important relationship was observed when more detailed capped scores of GCSEs allowing for both the number and grade of pass or when language, mathematics, and science performance were examined individually or when all educational assessments undertaken by an individual from school entry to leaving were considered. 200 (4.3%) mothers were newly identified as having hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism and 97 (2.1%) subclinical hyperthyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Children of mothers with thyroid dysfunction attained an equivalent number of GCSEs and equivalent grades as children of mothers

Same-Sex Sexuality and Educational Attainment: The Pathway to College.

PubMed

Pearson, Jennifer; Wilkinson, Lindsey

2017-01-01

Research finds lower levels of academic performance among sexual minority high school students, but some studies suggest sexual minorities have higher levels of educational attainment in adulthood. To further our understanding of how and why sexual orientation is associated with educational success, this study turns attention to the pathways to college completion, examining points along educational trajectories in which sexual minorities fall behind or surpass their heterosexual peers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we find that sexual minority women are less likely than women with no same-sex sexuality to complete college, in part due to their high school performance and transition into college. Men who experience same-sex sexuality only in adolescence struggle in high school, but men who experience same-sex sexuality for the first time in adulthood are more likely to earn a college degree than men who do not experience same-sex sexuality.

Higher educational attainment associated with reduced likelihood of abnormal cervical lesions among Zambian women - a cross sectional study.

PubMed

Hamoonga, Twaambo Euphemia; Likwa, Rosemary Ndonyo; Musonda, Patrick; Michelo, Charles

2017-10-13

The high burden of cervical cancer in Zambia prompted the Ministry of Health and partners to develop the cervical cancer prevention program in Zambia (CCPPZ) in 2006. Despite this intervention more women continue to die from the disease and there is little understanding of factors that may be linked with abnormal cervical lesions in the general population. We therefore examined if educational attainment is associated with abnormal cervical lesions among Zambian women aged 15 to 49 years. This study used data from the cervical cancer prevention program in Zambia, where a total of 14,294 women aged 15 to 49 years were screened for cervical cancer at nine health facilities between October 2013 and September 2014. The data represents women from six provinces of Zambia, namely Southern, Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, North-western and Eastern provinces. Step-wise logistic regression analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for educational attainment with presence of abnormal cervical lesions as outcome. Multiple imputation was further used to obtain the imputed stabilized estimates for educational attainment. The prevalence of abnormal cervical lesions, using the Visual Inspection with Acetic-acid (VIA) test was 10.7% (n = 1523). Educational attainment was inversely associated with abnormal cervical lesions (AOR = 0.75; 95% CI:0.70-0.81, AOR = 0.74; 95% CI:0.68-0.81 and AOR = 0.46; 95% CI:0.41-0.51) among women with primary, secondary and tertiary education, respectively, compared to those with no formal education. We find reduced likelihood of abnormal cervical lesions in educated women, suggesting a differential imbalance with women who have no formal education. These findings may be a reflection of inequalities associated with access to cervical cancer screening, making the service inadequately accessible for lower educated groups. This

Relative Age Effect and Gender Differences in Physical Education Attainment in Norwegian Schoolchildren

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aune, Tore Kristian; Pedersen, Arve Vorland; Ingvaldsen, Rolf Petter; Dalen, Terje

2017-01-01

The relative age effect (RAE) refers to that children born early in their year of birth show higher performance compared to children born late in the same cohort. The present study evaluated whether RAE exists within non-competitive physical education (PE) attainments, change in RAE magnitude with age, and possible gender differences. The results…

Protective connections and educational attainment among young adults with childhood-onset chronic illness.

PubMed

Maslow, Gary; Haydon, Abigail A; McRee, Annie-Laurie; Halpern, Carolyn T

2012-08-01

Youth with childhood-onset chronic illness (COCI) are at risk of poor educational attainment. Specific protective factors that promote college graduation in this population have not been studied previously. In this study, we examine the role protective factors during adolescence play in promoting college graduation among young adults with COCI. Data were collected from 10,925 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Protective factors present before 18 years of age included mentoring, parent relationship quality, school connectedness, and religious attendance. College graduation was the outcome of interest assessed when participants had a mean age of 28 years. Analysis was stratified by presence of COCI. About 2% of participants (N = 230) had 1 of 4 COCIs (cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, or heart disease). All 4 protective factors were associated with college graduation for youth without COCI. In the final multivariate model, only school connectedness was associated with college graduation for youth with COCI. School connectedness is of particular importance in promoting educational attainment for youth with COCI. © 2012, American School Health Association.

Parental Aspirations for Their Children's Educational Attainment and the Realisation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in Kenya: Evidence from Slum and Non-Slum Residences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oketch, Moses; Mutisya, Maurice; Sagwe, Jackline

2012-01-01

There is a sound research base attesting to the importance of parental involvement and to the many potential benefits it can offer for children's education. This study sought to examine differences in parental aspirations (as a mechanism of parental involvement in their children's education) for their children's educational attainment between slum…

Examining educational attainment, prepregnancy smoking rate, and delay discounting as predictors of spontaneous quitting among pregnant smokers.

PubMed

White, Thomas J; Redner, Ryan; Skelly, Joan M; Higgins, Stephen T

2014-10-01

We investigated three potential predictors (educational attainment, prepregnancy smoking rate, and delay discounting [DD]) of spontaneous quitting among pregnant smokers. These predictors were examined alone and in combination with other potential predictors using study-intake assessments from controlled clinical trials examining the efficacy of financial incentives for smoking cessation and relapse prevention. Data from 349 pregnant women (231 continuing smokers and 118 spontaneous quitters) recruited from the greater Burlington, VT, area contributed to this secondary analysis, including psychiatric/sociodemographic characteristics, smoking characteristics, and performance on a computerized DD task. Educational attainment, smoking rate, and DD values were each significant predictors of spontaneous quitting in univariate analyses. A model examining those three predictors together retained educational attainment as a main effect and revealed a significant interaction of DD and smoking rate (i.e., DD was a significant predictor at lower but not higher smoking rates). A final model considering all potential predictors, included education, the interaction of DD and smoking rate, and five additional predictors (i.e., stress ratings, the belief that smoking during pregnancy will "greatly harm my baby," age of smoking initiation, marital status, and prior quit attempts during pregnancy). The study presented here contributes new knowledge on predictors of spontaneous quitting among pregnant smokers with substantive practical implications for reducing smoking during pregnancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing Educational Outcomes in Middle Childhood: Validation of the Teacher Academic Attainment Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Samantha; Marlow, Neil; Wolke, Dieter

2012-01-01

Aim: Assessing educational outcomes in high-risk populations is crucial for defining long-term outcomes. As standardized tests are costly and time-consuming, we assessed the use of the Teacher Academic Attainment Scale (TAAS) as an outcome measure. Method: Three hundred and forty three children in mainstream schools aged 10 to 11 years (144 males,…

Educating Refugee-Background Students in Australian Schools and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naidoo, Loshini

2015-01-01

The Australian federal government recently set a challenging national aim: By 2020, 20% of higher education enrolment at the undergraduate level will include students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Although refugee-background students are often members of the targeted sub-population, their educational journeys frequently require special forms…

Educational influences on early retirement through disability in Ireland.

PubMed

Lawless, M; Buggy, C J; Codd, M B

2015-06-01

Studies suggest a higher prevalence of early retirement through disability among older people with lower educational attainment. There have been no national studies in Ireland on the factors that affect early withdrawal from the labour force through disability or long-term illness. To identify and analyse potential impacts of education on early retirement through disability in the over 50 age cohort of the Irish Labour force. We analysed the educational attainment of participants using The Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing (TILDA). The group of interest were those aged 50-75 who had retired early. The sample was dichotomized on disability. Examination of interviewer-recorded information on background influences determining early retirement decisions included the following factors: age, gender, education, family and socio-economic circumstances, including parental education. A total of 334 of 1179 study subjects (28%) retired early through disability. Comparison of those retired early with and without disability showed a significantly higher frequency of lower educational attainment both personally and for parents. Men with lower educational attainment and from a non-professional background were more likely to retire early through disability. Non-professional disabled respondents with less well-educated parents had lower educational attainment than non-disabled respondents. Among TILDA participants, educational attainment appears to influence early retirement through disability. The sector of previous employment was also a significant factor. Behaviour, lifestyle and employment choice are influenced by educational level, which may affect cognitive ability to process health information. Factors affecting the education-disability relationship could include parental education, employment status and socio-economic characteristics. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For

Educational Attainment and Labor Force Participation of U.S. Immigrant Offspring from Southeast Asia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poch, Bunnak

This study uses the most recent data from the Current Population Survey to examine socioeconomic standing (mainly educational attainment and labor force participation) of Southeast Asian (SEA) immigrants. The study focuses on what progress SEA immigrants and refugees have made after 2 decades of resettlement, whether second generation children…

Education Attainment and Parity Explain the Relationship Between Maternal Age and Breastfeeding Duration in U.S. Mothers.

PubMed

Whipps, Mackenzie D M

2017-02-01

Prior research in high-income countries finds that young mothers tend to breastfeed their infants for shorter durations than older mothers; however, there are gaps in our understanding of the processes by which age influences breastfeeding. Research aim: The primary objective of this study was to test the mediating effects of parity and education attainment on the association between maternal age and two breastfeeding outcomes: total duration and duration of exclusive breastfeeding. This study was a secondary data analysis of the IFPS II, a prospective, longitudinal study of ~ 4,900 American mothers. Robust and bias-corrected regression analyses tested the direct effect of age and the indirect effects of age through parity and education for each outcome of interest. Parity and education attainment together explain nearly all of the association between maternal age and both measures of breastfeeding duration. The mediating role of education is significantly larger than parity for both outcomes. These findings indicate that maternal age primarily indexes parity and education but contributes minimally to breastfeeding duration via a direct effect. The findings have implications for intervention development and targeting strategies.

Higher educational attainment but not higher income is protective for cardiovascular risk in Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users.

PubMed

McKee, Michael M; McKee, Kimberly; Winters, Paul; Sutter, Erika; Pearson, Thomas

2014-01-01

Higher educational attainment and income provide cardiovascular protection in the general population. It is unknown if the same effect is seen among Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users who face communication barriers in health care settings. We sought to examine whether educational attainment and/or annual household income were inversely associated with cardiovascular risk in a sample of Deaf ASL users. This cross-sectional study included 302 Deaf respondents aged 18-88 years from the Deaf Health Survey (2008), an adapted and translated Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) administered in sign language. Associations between the self-reported cardiovascular disease equivalents (CVDE; any of the following: diabetes, myocardial infarction (MI), cerebral vascular attack (CVA), and angina) with educational attainment (≤high school [low education], some college, and ≥4 year college degree [referent]), and annual household income (<$25,000, $25,000-<$50,000, or ≥$50,000 [referent]) were assessed using a multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and smoking history. Deaf respondents who reported ≤high school education were more likely to report the presence of a CVDE (OR = 5.76; 95% CI = 2.04-16.31) compared to Deaf respondents who reported having ≥4 year college degree after adjustment. However, low-income Deaf individuals (i.e., household incomes <$25,000) were not more likely to report the presence of a CVDE (OR = 2.24; 95% CI = 0.76-6.68) compared to high-income Deaf respondents after adjustment. Low educational attainment was associated with higher likelihood of reported cardiovascular equivalents among Deaf individuals. Higher income did not appear to provide a cardiovascular protective effect for Deaf respondents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Schooling Attainment's Influence on Internet Adoption: Education's Role in the Cross-National Development of the Mass-Media Knowledge Gap

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mann, Bryan A.; Smith, William C.; Baker, David P.

2016-01-01

Research about innovation adoption underplays the role of educational attainment in the individual consumption of technology; consequently, past research underestimates the importance education plays independent of wealth in diffusion, particularly as absolute levels of formal education rise worldwide. Using data from the Programme for…

Clark County Community College Students: Highlights from a Survey of their Backgrounds, Activities, Ratings of Skills, Use of Support Services, and Educational Attainments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedlander, Jack

This series of 15 brief reports summarizes findings for a survey of 564 Clark County Community College students which was conducted in Spring 1981 to determine: (1) student characteristics and educational background; (2) student usage of campus support services; (3) student ratings of their abilities in eight academic skill areas; (4) the extent…

Educational Attainment and Adult Mortality in the United States: A Systematic Analysis of Functional Form*

PubMed Central

Montez, Jennifer Karas; Hummer, Robert A.; Hayward, Mark D.

2012-01-01

A vast literature has documented the inverse association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality risk, but given little attention to identifying the optimal functional form of the association. A theoretical explanation of the association hinges on our ability to empirically describe it. Using the 1979–1998 National Longitudinal Mortality Study for non-Hispanic white and black adults aged 25–100 years during the mortality follow-up period (N=1,008,215), we evaluated 13 functional forms across race-gender-age subgroups to determine which form(s) best captured the association. Results revealed that a functional form that includes a linear decline in mortality risk from 0–11 years of education, followed by a step-change reduction in mortality risk upon attainment of a high school diploma, at which point mortality risk resumes a linear decline but with a steeper slope than that prior to a high school diploma was generally preferred. The findings provide important clues for theoretical development of explanatory mechanisms: an explanation for the selected functional form may require integrating a credentialist perspective to explain the step-change reduction in mortality risk upon attainment of a high school diploma, with a human capital perspective to explain the linear declines before and after a high school diploma. PMID:22246797

An education gradient in health, a health gradient in education, or a confounded gradient in both?

PubMed

Lynch, Jamie L; von Hippel, Paul T

2016-04-01

There is a positive gradient associating educational attainment with health, yet the explanation for this gradient is not clear. Does higher education improve health (causation)? Do the healthy become highly educated (selection)? Or do good health and high educational attainment both result from advantages established early in the life course (confounding)? This study evaluates these competing explanations by tracking changes in educational attainment and Self-rated Health (SRH) from age 15 to age 31 in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1997 cohort. Ordinal logistic regression confirms that high-SRH adolescents are more likely to become highly educated. This is partly because adolescent SRH is associated with early advantages including adolescents' academic performance, college plans, and family background (confounding); however, net of these confounders adolescent SRH still predicts adult educational attainment (selection). Fixed-effects longitudinal regression shows that educational attainment has little causal effect on SRH at age 31. Completion of a high school diploma or associate's degree has no effect on SRH, while completion of a bachelor's or graduate degree have effects that, though significant, are quite small (less than 0.1 points on a 5-point scale). While it is possible that educational attainment would have greater effect on health at older ages, at age 31 what we see is a health gradient in education, shaped primarily by selection and confounding rather than by a causal effect of education on health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Educational Attainment Process among Adolescents with Disabilities and Children of Parents with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shandra, Carrie L.; Hogan, Dennis P.

2009-01-01

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to examine the relationship between disability, parental and youth university expectations in 1997, and youth high school completion and university enrolment by 2003. Results indicate that educational attainment is not equal for young adults with and without…

Individual Heterogeneity and Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Migraine Headache and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sabia, Joseph J.; Rees, Daniel I.

2011-01-01

A recent study by Rees and Sabia (2011) found migraine headache was negatively related to educational attainment even after accounting for the influence of family-level unobservables. The current study explores whether this relationship is attributable to unmeasured individual heterogeneity in the form of personality by using non-migraine headache…

Amotivation in Physical Education: Relationships with Physical Self-Concept and Teacher Ratings of Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson-Kersey, Rachel; Spray, Christopher

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Amotivation Inventory in Physical Education (AI-PE). In addition, the study sought to identify the relationships between students' amotivation, physical self-concept, and teacher ratings of National Curriculum attainment levels in PE. Students ("N" = 510) from a…

Early Childhood Intervention and Educational Attainment: Age 22 Findings from the Chicago Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ou, Suh-Ruu; Reynolds, Arthur J.

2006-01-01

This study investigated whether participation in the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Preschool Program associated with higher educational attainment (high school completion, highest grade completed, and college attendance) at age 22. The study sample included 1,334 youth (869 in the preschool group and 465 in the comparison group) from the…

Only Fools? Reconsidering the Relationship between Commitment to the Work Ethic and Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Andrew

2013-01-01

This article argues that work ethic research has suffered from a tendency to conflate preference and morality, and that this has been particularly detrimental to our understanding of the relationship between commitment to the work ethic and educational attainment. The work ethic is almost always measured quantitatively, yet in-depth research…

Adolescent substance use and educational attainment: An integrative data analysis comparing cannabis and alcohol from three Australasian cohorts.

PubMed

Silins, Edmund; Fergusson, David M; Patton, George C; Horwood, L John; Olsson, Craig A; Hutchinson, Delyse M; Degenhardt, Louisa; Tait, Robert J; Borschmann, Rohan; Coffey, Carolyn; Toumbourou, John W; Najman, Jake M; Mattick, Richard P

2015-11-01

The relative contributions of cannabis and alcohol use to educational outcomes are unclear. We examined the extent to which adolescent cannabis or alcohol use predicts educational attainment in emerging adulthood. Participant-level data were integrated from three longitudinal studies from Australia and New Zealand (Australian Temperament Project, Christchurch Health and Development Study, and Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study). The number of participants varied by analysis (N=2179-3678) and were assessed on multiple occasions between ages 13 and 25. We described the association between frequency of cannabis or alcohol use prior to age 17 and high school non-completion, university non-enrolment, and degree non-attainment by age 25. Two other measures of alcohol use in adolescence were also examined. After covariate adjustment using a propensity score approach, adolescent cannabis use (weekly+) was associated with 1½ to two-fold increases in the odds of high school non-completion (OR=1.60, 95% CI=1.09-2.35), university non-enrolment (OR=1.51, 95% CI=1.06-2.13), and degree non-attainment (OR=1.96, 95% CI=1.36-2.81). In contrast, adjusted associations for all measures of adolescent alcohol use were inconsistent and weaker. Attributable risk estimates indicated adolescent cannabis use accounted for a greater proportion of the overall rate of non-progression with formal education than adolescent alcohol use. Findings are important to the debate about the relative harms of cannabis and alcohol use. Adolescent cannabis use is a better marker of lower educational attainment than adolescent alcohol use and identifies an important target population for preventive intervention. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal phenotype, independent of family economic capital, predicts educational attainment in lowland nepalese children

PubMed Central

Devakumar, Delan; Wells, Jonathan C.K.; Saville, Naomi; Reid, Alice; Costello, Anthony; Manandhar, Dharma S; Osrin, David

2016-01-01

Objectives Factors acting before children are born or reach school‐going age may explain why some do not complete primary education. Many relevant factors relate to maternal phenotype, but few studies have tested for independent associations of maternal factors relative to those characterizing the family in general. Methods Using data from a longitudinal study of 838 children in Dhanusha, Nepal, we used logistic regression models to test whether indices of maternal somatic and educational capital, or family economic capital, were independently associated with children having had ≤2 versus 3+ years of schooling at a mean age of 8.5 years. We also tested whether maternal age, children's early growth, and urban/rural location mediated such associations. Results Children had a higher risk of completing less schooling if their mothers were short, thin, anemic, and uneducated. Independently, lower family material assets and land acreage also increased children's odds of less schooling. There was an indication of gender differences, with the risk of poor educational attainment in girls associated with low maternal somatic and educational capital, whereas in boys the relevant factors were low maternal education and family land ownership. Conclusions Our analysis demonstrates that, independent of broader indices of family capital such as land or material assets, children's educational attainment is associated with factors embodied in maternal phenotype. Both somatic and educational maternal capital appeared important. A composite index of maternal capital could provide a new measurable proxy, prior to school entry, for identifying children at risk of completing fewer years of schooling. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:687–698, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27135632

Maternal phenotype, independent of family economic capital, predicts educational attainment in lowland nepalese children.

PubMed

Marphatia, Akanksha A; Devakumar, Delan; Wells, Jonathan C K; Saville, Naomi; Reid, Alice; Costello, Anthony; Manandhar, Dharma S; Osrin, David

2016-09-10

Factors acting before children are born or reach school-going age may explain why some do not complete primary education. Many relevant factors relate to maternal phenotype, but few studies have tested for independent associations of maternal factors relative to those characterizing the family in general. Using data from a longitudinal study of 838 children in Dhanusha, Nepal, we used logistic regression models to test whether indices of maternal somatic and educational capital, or family economic capital, were independently associated with children having had ≤2 versus 3+ years of schooling at a mean age of 8.5 years. We also tested whether maternal age, children's early growth, and urban/rural location mediated such associations. Children had a higher risk of completing less schooling if their mothers were short, thin, anemic, and uneducated. Independently, lower family material assets and land acreage also increased children's odds of less schooling. There was an indication of gender differences, with the risk of poor educational attainment in girls associated with low maternal somatic and educational capital, whereas in boys the relevant factors were low maternal education and family land ownership. Our analysis demonstrates that, independent of broader indices of family capital such as land or material assets, children's educational attainment is associated with factors embodied in maternal phenotype. Both somatic and educational maternal capital appeared important. A composite index of maternal capital could provide a new measurable proxy, prior to school entry, for identifying children at risk of completing fewer years of schooling. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:687-698, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 The Authors American Journal of Human Biology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The modifying influence of country development on the effect of individual educational attainment on self-rated health.

PubMed

van der Kooi, Anne L F; Stronks, Karien; Thompson, Caroline A; DerSarkissian, Maral; Arah, Onyebuchi A

2013-11-01

We investigated how much the Human Development Index (HDI), a global measure of development, modifies the effect of education on self-reported health. We analyzed cross-sectional World Health Survey data on 217,642 individuals from 49 countries, collected in 2002 to 2005, with random-intercept multilevel linear regression models. We observed greater positive associations between educational levels and self-reported good health with increasing HDI. The magnitude of this effect modification of the education-health relation tended to increase with educational attainment. For example, before adjustment for effect modification, at comparable HDI, on average, finishing primary school was associated with better general health (b = 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18, 1.80). With adjustment for effect modification by HDI, the impact became 4.63 (95% CI = 3.63, 5.62) for every 0.1 increase in HDI. Among those who completed high school, these associations were, respectively, 5.59 (95% CI = 5.20, 5.98) and 9.95 (95% CI = 8.89, 11.00). The health benefits of educational attainment are greater in countries with greater human development. Health inequalities attributable to education are, therefore, larger in more developed countries.

Ambitious Mothers--Successful Daughters: Mothers' Early Expectations for Children's Education and Children's Earnings and Sense of Control in Adult Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flouri, Eirini; Hawkes, Denise

2008-01-01

Background: Mothers' expectations for their children's educational attainment are related to children's educational and occupational attainment. Studies have yet to establish, however, the long-term links between maternal expectations and offspring earnings, which are not always related to occupational attainment especially in women, or between…

Educational Goal Attainment: A Three-Year Follow-Up Study of Nonreturning 1986-87 Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson County Community Coll., Overland Park, KS. Office of Institutional Research.

A study was conducted in summer 1990 to measure the educational goal attainment of students who were enrolled at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) during 1986-87, and who had not re-enrolled at the college since that time. Questionnaires requesting information on JCCC experiences and outcomes, level of satisfaction with JCCC, current…

Pupil Mobility, Attainment and Progress in Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strand, Steve; Demie, Feyisa

2006-01-01

This article presents an analysis of the association between pupil mobility and educational attainment in the 2002 national end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) tests for 11-year-old pupils in an inner London education authority. The results show that pupil mobility is strongly associated with low attainment in the end of key stage tests. However, the…

Quantity of Parental Involvement: The Influence of the Level of Educational Attainment of Elementary Private School Parents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Secord, Deborah K.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this research was to determine the influence of the custodial parents' level of educational attainment on the quantity of parental involvement in the areas of assistance with homework, time spent in home activities with the child, communication with teachers, participation in school events, educational discussions with the child,…

Early-life conditions and health at older ages: The mediating role of educational attainment, family and employment trajectories.

PubMed

Arpino, Bruno; Gumà, Jordi; Julià, Albert

2018-01-01

We examine to what extent the effect of early-life conditions (health and socioeconomic status) on health in later life is mediated by educational attainment and life-course trajectories (fertility, partnership, employment). Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N = 12,034), we apply, separately by gender, multichannel sequence analysis and cluster analysis to obtain groups of similar family and employment histories. The KHB method is used to disentangle direct and indirect effects of early-life conditions on health. Early-life-conditions indirectly impact on health in later life as result of their influence on education and family and employment trajectories. For example, between 22% and 42% of the effect of low parental socio-economic status at childhood on the three considered health outcomes at older age is explained by educational attainment for women. Even higher percentages are found for men (35% - 57%). On the contrary, the positive effect of poor health at childhood on poor health at older ages is not significantly mediated by education and life-course trajectories. Education captures most of the mediating effect of parental socio-economic status. More specifically, between 66% and 75% of the indirect effect of low parental socio-economic status at childhood on the three considered health outcomes at older age is explained by educational attainment for women. Again, higher percentages are found for men (86% - 93%). Early-life conditions, especially socioeconomic status, influence family and employment trajectories indirectly through their impact on education. We also find a persistent direct impact of early-life conditions on health at older ages. Our findings demonstrate that early-life experiences influence education and life-course trajectories and health in later life, suggesting that public investments in children are expected to produce long lasting effects on people's lives throughout the different phases of their

Perceptions of pregnancy preparation in women with a low to intermediate educational attainment: A qualitative study.

PubMed

M'hamdi, Hafez Ismaili; Sijpkens, Meertien K; de Beaufort, Inez; Rosman, Ageeth N; Steegers, Eric Ap

2018-04-01

in the promotion of periconceptional health, appropriate attention has to be given to the perceptions of those who are most vulnerable, such as women with a relatively low socioeconomic status based on their educational attainment. The aim of this study was to explore these women's perceptions of pregnancy preparation and the role they attribute to healthcare professionals. we conducted semi-structured interviews with women with a low to intermediate educational attainment and with a desire to conceive, of which a subgroup had experience with preconception care. Thematic content analysis was applied on the interview transcripts. the final sample consisted of 28 women. We identified four themes of pregnancy preparation perceptions: (i)"How to prepare for pregnancy?", which included health promotion and seeking healthcare; (ii) "Why prepare for pregnancy?", which mostly related to fertility and health concerns; (iii) "Barriers and facilitators regarding pregnancy preparation", such as having limited control over becoming pregnant as well as the health of the unborn; (iv) "The added value of preconception care", reported by women who had visited a consultation, which consisted mainly of reassurance and receiving information. the attained insights into the perceptions of women with a low to intermediate education are valuable for adapting the provision of preconception care to their views. We recommend the proactive offering of preconception care, including information on fertility, to stimulate adequate preparation for pregnancy and contribute to improving perinatal health among women who are socioeconomically more vulnerable. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The causal effect of childhood measles vaccination on educational attainment: A mother fixed-effects study in rural South Africa.

PubMed

Anekwe, Tobenna D; Newell, Marie-Louise; Tanser, Frank; Pillay, Deenan; Bärnighausen, Till

2015-09-11

Because measles vaccination prevents acute measles disease and morbidities secondary to measles, such as undernutrition, blindness, and brain damage, the vaccination may also lead to higher educational attainment. However, there has been little evidence to support this hypothesis at the population level. In this study, we estimate the causal effect of childhood measles vaccination on educational attainment among children born between 1995 and 2000 in South Africa. We use longitudinal data on measles vaccination status and school grade attainment among 4783 children. The data were collected by the Wellcome Trust Africa Centre Demographic Information System (ACDIS), which is one of Africa's largest health and demographic surveillance systems. ACDIS is located in a poor, predominantly rural, Zulu-speaking community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using mother fixed-effects regression, we compare the school grade attainment of siblings who are discordant in their measles vaccination status but share the same mother and household. This fixed-effects approach controls for confounding due to both observed and unobserved factors that do not vary between siblings, including sibling-invariant mother and household characteristics such as attitudes toward risk, conscientiousness, and aspirations for children. We further control for a range of potential confounders that vary between siblings, such as sex of the child, year of birth, mother's age at child's birth, and birth order. We find that measles vaccination on average increases school grade attainment by 0.188 grades (95% confidence interval, 0.0424-0.334; p=0.011). Measles vaccination increased educational attainment in this poor, largely rural community in South Africa. For every five to seven children vaccinated against measles, one additional school grade was gained. The presence of a measles vaccination effect in this community is plausible because (i) measles vaccination prevents measles complications including

Trends and Group Differences in the Association between Educational Attainment and U.S. Adult Mortality: Implications for Understanding Education’s Causal Influence*

PubMed Central

Hayward, Mark D.; Hummer, Robert A.; Sasson, Isaac

2014-01-01

Has the shape of the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality changed in recent decades? If so, is it changing consistently across demographic groups? What can changes in the shape of the association tell us about the possible mechanisms in play for improving health and lowering mortality risk over the adult life course? This paper develops the argument that societal technological change may have had profound effects on the importance of educational attainment – particularly advanced education – in the U.S. adult population for garnering health advantages and that these changes should be reflected in changes in the functional form of the association between educational attainment and mortality. We review the historical evidence on the changing functional form of the association, drawing on studies based in the United States, to assess whether these changes are consistent with our argument about the role of technological change. We also provide an updated analysis of these functional form patterns and trends, contrasting data from the early 21st Century with data from the late 20th Century. This updated evidence suggests that the shape of the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality appears to be reflecting lower and lower adult mortality for very highly educated Americans compared to their low-educated counterparts in the 21st Century. We draw on this review and updated evidence to reflect on the question whether education’s association with adult mortality has become increasingly causal in recent decades, why, and the potential research, policy, and global implications of these changes. PMID:25440841

Associations of educational attainment, occupation, and community poverty with hip osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Cleveland, Rebecca J; Schwartz, Todd A; Prizer, Lindsay P; Randolph, Randy; Schoster, Britta; Renner, Jordan B; Jordan, Joanne M; Callahan, Leigh F

2013-06-01

To examine cross-sectional baseline data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project for the association between individual and community socioeconomic status (SES) measures with hip osteoarthritis (OA) outcomes. We analyzed data on 3,087 individuals (68% white and 32% African American). Educational attainment and occupation were used as individual measures of SES. Census block group household poverty rate was used as a measure of community SES. Hip OA outcomes included radiographic OA and symptomatic OA in one or both hip joints. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the association of each hip OA outcome with each SES variable separately, and then with all SES measures simultaneously. Associations between hip OA outcomes and SES variables were evaluated for effect modification by race and sex. Living in a community of high household poverty rate showed independent associations with hip radiographic OA in one or both hips (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.18-1.92) and bilateral (both hips) radiographic OA (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.32-2.66). Similar independent associations were found between low educational attainment among those with symptomatic OA in one or both hips (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.09-1.91) or bilateral symptomatic OA (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.08-3.39), after adjusting for all SES measures simultaneously. No significant associations were observed between occupation and hip OA outcomes, nor did race or sex modify the associations. Our data provide evidence that hip OA outcomes are associated with both education and community SES measures, associations that remained after adjustment for covariates and all SES measures. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Rheumatology.

Ability Grouping's Effects on Grades and the Attainment of Higher Education: A Natural Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bygren, Magnus

2016-01-01

To test the effect of ability grouping on grades and the attainment of higher education, this study examines a naturally occurring experiment--an admission reform that dramatically increased ability sorting between schools in the municipality of Stockholm. Following six cohorts of students (N = 79,020) from the age of 16 to 26, I find a mean…

Reducing Risk for Substance Use by Economically Disadvantaged Young Men: Positive Family Environments and Pathways to Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Monica J.; Conger, Rand D.; Sitnick, Stephanie L.; Masarik, April S.; Forbes, Erika E.; Shaw, Daniel S.

2015-01-01

Using prospective, longitudinal data spanning 10 years (age = 10-20) from a study of 295 economically disadvantaged males, the current investigation evaluated a developmental model that links early family environment and later educational aspirations, extracurricular activities, and educational attainment to substance use in early adulthood. The…

The Effects of a Working-Class Background on Community College Faculty: A Critical Ethnography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dole, Susan McLaughlin

2010-01-01

Fields of inquiry intent on making social class differences visible and relevant in higher education and society at large are newly developing. Researchers continue to identify significant obstacles to degree attainment and hence to social mobility for working-class and low income students. A college student's social class background can…

Educational attainment, labour force status and injury: a comparison of Canadians with and without deafness and hearing loss.

PubMed

Woodcock, Kathryn; Pole, Jason D

2008-12-01

Communication is essential to both educational attainment and labour force participation. Deafness--both the disability and the culture--creates a communication barrier. The objective of this study is to profile the educational attainment, labour force status and injury profile of deaf and hard-of-hearing Canadians in relation to the population as a whole. Using data from the Canada Community Health Survey 1.1, a cross-sectional survey conducted by Statistics Canada with a total of 131,535 respondents, a series of logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the odds of reporting the presence of educational attainment, labour force status and injury, and being classified as having a hearing problem. For each odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals are provided. All analyses were adjusted for age and sex with some analyses being restricted to appropriate age ranges or having further adjustments made, depending on the outcome. Approximately 4% of the respondents were considered to have a hearing problem. The prevalence of hearing problems increases with age and men have a slightly higher prevalence of hearing problems compared with women (4.52 vs. 3.53%). Respondents classified as having a hearing problem, whether hearing loss or deafness, were more likely to have achieved less education, less likely to be working and experience higher rates of injury and work-related injury compared with hearing respondents. These results underscore the need to equalize access to education and employment and assure the accessibility to workplace safety and wellness for this minority group.

Assessing the independent contribution of maternal educational expectations to children's educational attainment in early adulthood: a propensity score matching analysis.

PubMed

Pingault, Jean Baptiste; Côté, Sylvana M; Petitclerc, Amélie; Vitaro, Frank; Tremblay, Richard E

2015-01-01

Parental educational expectations have been associated with children's educational attainment in a number of long-term longitudinal studies, but whether this relationship is causal has long been debated. The aims of this prospective study were twofold: 1) test whether low maternal educational expectations contributed to failure to graduate from high school; and 2) compare the results obtained using different strategies for accounting for confounding variables (i.e. multivariate regression and propensity score matching). The study sample included 1,279 participants from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children. Maternal educational expectations were assessed when the participants were aged 12 years. High school graduation—measuring educational attainment—was determined through the Quebec Ministry of Education when the participants were aged 22-23 years. Findings show that when using the most common statistical approach (i.e. multivariate regressions to adjust for a restricted set of potential confounders) the contribution of low maternal educational expectations to failure to graduate from high school was statistically significant. However, when using propensity score matching, the contribution of maternal expectations was reduced and remained statistically significant only for males. The results of this study are consistent with the possibility that the contribution of parental expectations to educational attainment is overestimated in the available literature. This may be explained by the use of a restricted range of potential confounding variables as well as the dearth of studies using appropriate statistical techniques and study designs in order to minimize confounding. Each of these techniques and designs, including propensity score matching, has its strengths and limitations: A more comprehensive understanding of the causal role of parental expectations will stem from a convergence of findings from studies using different techniques and

The Impact of Parental Divorce on Children's Educational Attainment, Marital Timing, and Likelihood of Divorce.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keith, Verna M.; Finlay, Barbara

1988-01-01

Examined combined sample of national data to determine impact of parental divorce on children. Found parental divorce associated with lower educational attainment and earlier age at marriage for sons and daughters. Daughters of divorced parents had higher probability of being divorced. For sons of divorced parents, probability of ever marrying and…

The Psychology of Working: A Case Study of Mexican American Women with Low Educational Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerrero, Laura; Singh, Satvir

2013-01-01

Using Blustein's (2006) psychology of working and Hackman and Oldham's (1975) job characteristics theory, the authors investigated the job attribute preferences of Mexican American women with low educational attainment. They used content analysis to code and analyze the interview transcripts of 27 women. The most valued job attributes were not…

Home-Based Parental Involvement in Young Children's Education: Examining the Effects of Maternal Education across U.S. Ethnic Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suizzo, Marie-Anne; Stapleton, Laura M.

2007-01-01

This study investigated the contributions of maternal education and ethnicity to three dimensions of home-based parental involvement in young children's education and development: parental expectations about educational attainment, children's activities at home and outside the home, and family routines. Controlling for family background variables…

Food insecurity, school absenteeism and educational attainment of adolescents in Jimma Zone Southwest Ethiopia: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Belachew, Tefera; Hadley, Craig; Lindstrom, David; Gebremariam, Abebe; Lachat, Carl; Kolsteren, Patrick

2011-04-10

Food insecurity not only affects physical growth and health of children but also their intellectual development, school attendance and academic performance. However, most evidences are based on studies in high income countries. Although food insecurity is common in Ethiopia, to what extent it affects school attendance and educational attainment of adolescents is not explored. We hypothesized that food insecure adolescents would be more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades attained after 1 year compared to their food secure peers. We used data from 2009 adolescents in the age group of 13-17 years from two consecutive surveys of a five year longitudinal family study in Southwest Ethiopia. A stratified random sampling was used to select participants. Regression analyses were used to compare school absenteeism and the highest grade attained after 1 year of follow-up in food secure and insecure adolescents. The analysis was adjusted for demographic factors, reported illness and workload. Significantly more (33.0%) food insecure adolescents were absent from school compared with their food secure peers (17.8%, P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that after adjusting for gender, place of residence and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity [OR 1.77 (1.34-2.33)], severe household food insecurity [OR 1.62 (1.27-2.06)], illness during the past one month before the survey [OR 2.26 (1.68-3.06)], the highest grade aspired to be completed by the adolescent [OR 0.92 (0.88-0.96)], and the number of days that the adolescent had to work per week [OR 1.16 (1.07-1.26)] were independent predictors of school absenteeism. Similarly after controlling for household income and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity(P < 0.001), severe household food insecurity(P < 0.001), illness during the last month(P < 0.001) and rural residence(P < 0.001) were inversely associated with highest grade attained, while age of the

Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003. Population Characteristics. Current Population Reports. P20-550

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoops, Nicole

2004-01-01

This report provides information on basic educational trends and attainment levels across many segments of the population. The findings are based on data collected in the 2003 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS) and refer to the population 25 years and over unless otherwise specified. The population…

State Policies and Planning to Increase Attainment, Quality, and Productivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lingenfelter, Paul E.

2007-01-01

This article examines why state planning and policy for higher education are increasingly focused on increasing educational attainment, quality, and the productivity of the system. It presents four "stories" which illustrate initiatives to improve attainment, quality, and productivity, but fall far short of exhausting the available material.

How social position of origin relates to intelligence and level of education when adjusting for attained social position.

PubMed

Sorjonen, Kimmo; Hemmingsson, Tomas; Lundin, Andreas; Melin, Bo

2011-06-01

Intelligence and its relationship to achievement is a classical question within psychology. In accordance with earlier British studies, the present study, based on conscription data and follow-ups for Swedish men born 1949-51 (N = 36,156), found that when adjusting for attained social position, people with a high social position of origin tend to have higher intelligence and level of education than people with a lower social position of origin. These results could be seen to contradict the claim that more merit, at least when operationalized as intelligence or education, is required from people with a low social position of origin in order to attain a certain social level. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Reflection on Multicultural Education under the Background of Globalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geng, Lihua

2013-01-01

As one of the development trends in world education, multicultural education has been confronted with a lot of difficulties in the globalization tide that becomes more and more open. On the basis of making an analysis of the background and connotation of generation of multicultural education, this paper reflects on multicultural education in…

How do educational attainment and gender relate to fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and academic skills at ages 22-90 years?

PubMed

Kaufman, Alan S; Kaufman, James C; Liu, Xin; Johnson, Cheryl K

2009-03-01

Educational attainment and gender differences on fluid intelligence (Gf), crystallized intelligence (Gc), and academic skills in reading, math, and writing were analyzed for stratified adult samples ranging in age from 22 to 90 years. The data sources were the adult portions of the standardization samples of the second editions of Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (N = 570) and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement-Brief Form (N = 555). Five univariate analysis of covariance were conducted with age as the covariate. Correlational analysis supplemented the covariate analyses to better understand the relationship of the five variables to education. All variables related significantly and substantially to years of formal schooling, an important finding in view of the key nature of this background variable for conducting neuropsychological assessments, as elaborated by Heaton and his colleagues. Surprisingly, Gf related just as strongly to education as did the school-related Gc. Among academic skill areas, math correlated higher with years of formal schooling than did either reading or writing. Women significantly outperformed men on the writing test and the reverse was true for the math test; other gender differences were not significant. These analyses fill a gap in the literature regarding the nature of gender and education differences in academic skills for heterogeneous samples of normal adults between young adulthood and old age and have practical implications for neuropsychological assessment.

Early-life conditions and health at older ages: The mediating role of educational attainment, family and employment trajectories

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Objectives We examine to what extent the effect of early-life conditions (health and socioeconomic status) on health in later life is mediated by educational attainment and life-course trajectories (fertility, partnership, employment). Methods Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N = 12,034), we apply, separately by gender, multichannel sequence analysis and cluster analysis to obtain groups of similar family and employment histories. The KHB method is used to disentangle direct and indirect effects of early-life conditions on health. Results Early-life-conditions indirectly impact on health in later life as result of their influence on education and family and employment trajectories. For example, between 22% and 42% of the effect of low parental socio-economic status at childhood on the three considered health outcomes at older age is explained by educational attainment for women. Even higher percentages are found for men (35% - 57%). On the contrary, the positive effect of poor health at childhood on poor health at older ages is not significantly mediated by education and life-course trajectories. Education captures most of the mediating effect of parental socio-economic status. More specifically, between 66% and 75% of the indirect effect of low parental socio-economic status at childhood on the three considered health outcomes at older age is explained by educational attainment for women. Again, higher percentages are found for men (86% - 93%). Early-life conditions, especially socioeconomic status, influence family and employment trajectories indirectly through their impact on education. We also find a persistent direct impact of early-life conditions on health at older ages. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that early-life experiences influence education and life-course trajectories and health in later life, suggesting that public investments in children are expected to produce long lasting effects on people’s lives

Gender Differences in the Developmental Cascade from Harsh Parenting to Educational Attainment: An Evolutionary Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hentges, Rochelle F.; Wang, Ming-Te

2018-01-01

This study utilized life history theory to test a developmental cascade model linking harsh parenting to low educational attainment. Multigroup models were examined to test for potential gender differences. The sample consisted of 1,482 adolescents followed up for 9 years starting in seventh grade (M[subscript age] = 12.74). Results supported…

The Impact of Private Schools on Educational Attainment in the State of São Paulo

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stern, Jonathan M. B.

2015-01-01

This study uses a comprehensive dataset on secondary school students in Brazil to examine the impact of private school enrollment on educational attainment in São Paulo. The results show that private school students (across all levels of tuition) perform better than their public school counterparts on Brazil's high school exit exam, even after…

General Education Development (GED®) Credential Attainment, Externalizing Disorders, and Substance Use Disorders in Disconnected Emerging Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergman, Andrea; Kong, Grace; Pope, Alice

2014-01-01

There are many benefits for emerging adults, both financial and personal, in obtaining a General Education Development (GED®) credential (Ou, 2008). However, little is known about the correlates of GED® credential attainment in "disconnected" emerging adults attending GED® programs. Our goal was to examine whether externalizing…

Mechanisms by which childhood personality traits influence adult health status: educational attainment and healthy behaviors.

PubMed

Hampson, Sarah E; Goldberg, Lewis R; Vogt, Thomas M; Dubanoski, Joan P

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test a life span health behavior model in which educational attainment and health behaviors (eating habits, smoking, and physical activity) were hypothesized as mechanisms to account for relations between teacher ratings of childhood personality traits and self-reported health status at midlife. The model was tested on 1,054 members of the Hawaii Personality and Health cohort, which is a population-based cohort participating in a longitudinal study of personality and health spanning 40 years from childhood to midlife. Childhood Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect-Imagination influenced adult health status indirectly through educational attainment, healthy eating habits, and smoking. Several direct effects of childhood traits on health behaviors and health status were also observed. The model extends past associations found between personality traits and health behaviors or health status by identifying a life-course pathway based on the health behavior model through which early childhood traits influence adult health status. The additional direct effects of personality traits indicate that health behavior mechanisms may not provide a complete account of relations between personality and health.

A Stronger Nation through Higher Education: How and Why Americans Must Meet a "Big Goal" for College Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Dewayne

2010-01-01

For the past two years, Lumina Foundation for Education has been calling for the United States to increase higher education attainment rates--the proportion of the population that holds a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential--to 60 percent by the year 2025. This call--Lumina's Big Goal--has been taken up by many others. In February…

"Girls Have More of an Educational Brain": A Qualitative Exploration of the Gender Gap in Educational Attainment among Black Bermudian Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jethwani, Monique M.

2015-01-01

Although Black boys throughout the African diaspora are dropping out of high school in alarming rates, little is known about how educational identity and attainment is shaped by the intersection of race and gender in the high school environment. Utilizing an ecological and intersectionality theoretical lens, this study draws on data gleaned from…

Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009. Population Characteristics. Current Population Reports. P20-566

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Camille L.; Siebens, Julie

2012-01-01

This report provides a portrait of educational attainment in the United States based on data collected in the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2005-2009 ACS 5-year estimates. It also uses data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS) collected in 2009 and earlier, as well as monthly…

Accounting for British Muslim's Educational Attainment: Gender Differences and the Impact of Expectations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khattab, Nabil; Modood, Tariq

2018-01-01

This study compares the educational attainment of Muslim and Christian White-British boys and girls at the following junctions: Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, GCSE, getting into universities and achieving a place at a Russell Group university. The study utilises the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England waves 1-6 with linked data from the…

The Effects of Early Bilateral Otitis Media with Effusion on Educational Attainment: A Prospective Cohort Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Sylvia A. F.; And Others

1994-01-01

Examination of the relationship between educational attainment and long-lasting, bilateral otitis media with effusion (OME) in 270 Dutch children (ages 2 to 4) found that, at age 7, early bilateral OME affected spelling ability but not reading ability. Effects of treatment with ventilation tubes were not found. (DB)

Schooling, Skills, and Self-Rated Health: A Test of Conventional Wisdom on the Relationship between Educational Attainment and Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duke, Naomi; Macmillan, Ross

2016-01-01

Education is a key sociological variable in the explanation of health and health disparities. Conventional wisdom emphasizes a life course--human capital perspective with expectations of causal effects that are quasi-linear, large in magnitude for high levels of educational attainment, and reasonably robust in the face of measured and unmeasured…