Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender
<i>Background.</i> The Minorities’ Diminished Return theory suggests that education attainment and other socioeconomic resources have smaller effects on the health and well-being of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities compared to Whites. Racial and ethnic d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/11/107 |
| _version_ | 1819209647527034880 |
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| author | Shervin Assari |
| author_facet | Shervin Assari |
| author_sort | Shervin Assari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Background.</i> The Minorities’ Diminished Return theory suggests that education attainment and other socioeconomic resources have smaller effects on the health and well-being of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities compared to Whites. Racial and ethnic differences in the processes involved with educational upward mobility may contribute to the diminished returns of education attainment for African Americans compared to Whites. Aim: This study compared African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites for the effect of parental education attainment on educational upward mobility and explored gender differences in these effects. <i>Methods.</i> The National Survey of American Life (NSAL 2003) is a nationally representative survey of American adults. Participants included 891 non-Hispanic White and 3570 African American adults. Gender, race/ethnicity, age, highest parental education attainment, and respondents’ educational attainment were measured. Data were analyzed using linear regression models. <i>Results.</i> Overall, higher parental education attainment was associated with higher educational upward mobility (b = 0.34, <i>p</i> < 0.001), however, this boosting effect was significantly smaller for African Americans compared to Whites (b = −0.13, <i>p</i> = 0.003). Our further analysis showed that race by parental education attainment can be found for females (b = −0.14, <i>p</i> = 0.013) but not males (<i>p</i> > 0.05). <i>Conclusion.</i> African American females are at a disadvantage compared to White females regarding the effect of parental education attainment on their educational upward mobility, a phenomenon which could not be observed when comparing African American and White males. These results advocate for taking intersectionality frameworks to study the effects of race, gender, and class in the US. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T05:58:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0cf20883513d41b0b4c1891e770a6ef5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T05:58:36Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-0cf20883513d41b0b4c1891e770a6ef52022-12-21T17:57:43ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2018-11-0181110710.3390/bs8110107bs8110107Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and GenderShervin Assari0Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2700, USA<i>Background.</i> The Minorities’ Diminished Return theory suggests that education attainment and other socioeconomic resources have smaller effects on the health and well-being of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities compared to Whites. Racial and ethnic differences in the processes involved with educational upward mobility may contribute to the diminished returns of education attainment for African Americans compared to Whites. Aim: This study compared African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites for the effect of parental education attainment on educational upward mobility and explored gender differences in these effects. <i>Methods.</i> The National Survey of American Life (NSAL 2003) is a nationally representative survey of American adults. Participants included 891 non-Hispanic White and 3570 African American adults. Gender, race/ethnicity, age, highest parental education attainment, and respondents’ educational attainment were measured. Data were analyzed using linear regression models. <i>Results.</i> Overall, higher parental education attainment was associated with higher educational upward mobility (b = 0.34, <i>p</i> < 0.001), however, this boosting effect was significantly smaller for African Americans compared to Whites (b = −0.13, <i>p</i> = 0.003). Our further analysis showed that race by parental education attainment can be found for females (b = −0.14, <i>p</i> = 0.013) but not males (<i>p</i> > 0.05). <i>Conclusion.</i> African American females are at a disadvantage compared to White females regarding the effect of parental education attainment on their educational upward mobility, a phenomenon which could not be observed when comparing African American and White males. These results advocate for taking intersectionality frameworks to study the effects of race, gender, and class in the US.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/11/107socioeconomic status (SES)socioeconomic mobilityeducational mobilitysocial mobilityracismAfrican Americansblacks |
| spellingShingle | Shervin Assari Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender Behavioral Sciences socioeconomic status (SES) socioeconomic mobility educational mobility social mobility racism African Americans blacks |
| title | Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender |
| title_full | Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender |
| title_fullStr | Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender |
| title_short | Parental Education Attainment and Educational Upward Mobility; Role of Race and Gender |
| title_sort | parental education attainment and educational upward mobility role of race and gender |
| topic | socioeconomic status (SES) socioeconomic mobility educational mobility social mobility racism African Americans blacks |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/11/107 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shervinassari parentaleducationattainmentandeducationalupwardmobilityroleofraceandgender |