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The educational attainment phenotype. Matt McGue Department of Psychology University of Minnesota. Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group University of Chicago 18.04.2014. MCTFR: Sampling unit. Mother. Father. Initially Assessed in Adolescence. Offspring #1.
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The educational attainment phenotype Matt McGueDepartment of Psychology University of Minnesota Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group University of Chicago 18.04.2014
MCTFR: Sampling unit Mother Father Initially Assessed in Adolescence Offspring #1 Offspring #2 Offspring Types: Monozygotic (MZ) Twins Dizygotic (DZ) Twins Biological Siblings Adopted Siblings
The educational attainment phenotype: • Aggregates strongly in families for environmental as well as genetic reasons • With intergenerational mobility associated with gender, cohort and hard and soft skills • Environmental transmission within families may not be due skill building
College graduation patterns in MTFS both typical and atypical of the US Based on census data analyzed by Population Reference Bureau http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2011/gender-gap-in-education.aspx
. . . and educational attainment aggregates strongly in families
The educational attainment phenotype: • Aggregates strongly in families for environmental as well as genetic reasons • With intergenerational mobility associated with gender, cohort and hard and soft skills • Environmental transmission within families may not be due skill building
Intergenerational mobility associated with: cognitive ability, externalizing & control
The educational attainment phenotype: • Aggregates strongly in families for environmental as well as genetic reasons • With intergenerational mobility associated with gender, cohort and hard and soft skills • Environmental transmission within families may not be due skill building
College educated parents are more likely to have college educated offspring, in both adoptive and biological families
But adoptive parents effect doesn’t appear to be attributable to skill building
Conclusions • Unlike many behavioral genetic traits, there may be strong shared environmental influences on social achievements • Intergenerational mobility is driven by hard and soft skill differentials • Yet the family environmental influences may more reflect opportunities created by socioeconomic advantage than skill building