Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.

It is well-known that the more educated people are, the more liberal views they tend to express. However, it is unclear whether this is due to college attendance itself or because those who go to college differ from those who do not in ways (directly or indirectly) related to their later political i...

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Main Authors: Achim Edelmann, Stephen Vaisey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279273
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author Achim Edelmann
Stephen Vaisey
author_facet Achim Edelmann
Stephen Vaisey
author_sort Achim Edelmann
collection DOAJ
description It is well-known that the more educated people are, the more liberal views they tend to express. However, it is unclear whether this is due to college attendance itself or because those who go to college differ from those who do not in ways (directly or indirectly) related to their later political identification. In this paper, we therefore attempt to estimate the effect of college on political identification net of people's tendencies to select into college using an inverse probability of treatment weighting approach. Based on data from the General Social Survey, we analyze how this effect has changed over time and whether college affects the political identification of women in the same ways as that of men. We find evidence consistent with the argument that college attendance politicizes both men and women. Moreover, we show that not only the general, but also the gender specific effects change markedly across the decades. This raises questions about the different mechanisms at play in how college mobilizes men and women politically.
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spelling doaj.art-40a412849557412ea5265187904d90b32023-03-21T05:31:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01181e027927310.1371/journal.pone.0279273Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.Achim EdelmannStephen VaiseyIt is well-known that the more educated people are, the more liberal views they tend to express. However, it is unclear whether this is due to college attendance itself or because those who go to college differ from those who do not in ways (directly or indirectly) related to their later political identification. In this paper, we therefore attempt to estimate the effect of college on political identification net of people's tendencies to select into college using an inverse probability of treatment weighting approach. Based on data from the General Social Survey, we analyze how this effect has changed over time and whether college affects the political identification of women in the same ways as that of men. We find evidence consistent with the argument that college attendance politicizes both men and women. Moreover, we show that not only the general, but also the gender specific effects change markedly across the decades. This raises questions about the different mechanisms at play in how college mobilizes men and women politically.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279273
spellingShingle Achim Edelmann
Stephen Vaisey
Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.
PLoS ONE
title Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.
title_full Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.
title_fullStr Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.
title_full_unstemmed Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.
title_short Gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the U.S.-A propensity score weighting approach.
title_sort gender differential effect of college on political orientation over the last 40 years in the u s a propensity score weighting approach
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279273
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