Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage
Research on educational mobility is concerned with inequalities between families. Differences in innate abilities and parental responses lead, however, to educational differences between siblings. If parental responses vary by family socioeconomic background, within-family inequality can affect betw...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Society for Sociological Science
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Sociological Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v5-11-246/ |
| _version_ | 1818020703062982656 |
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| author | Michael Grätz |
| author_facet | Michael Grätz |
| author_sort | Michael Grätz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on educational mobility is concerned with inequalities between families. Differences in innate abilities and parental responses lead, however, to educational differences between siblings. If parental responses vary by family socioeconomic background, within-family inequality can affect between-family inequality (i.e., educational mobility). This study uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) to test whether sibling similarity in education varies by family socioeconomic background. In addition, I test whether the effects of birth order, birth spacing, and maternal age on education vary by family background. Results show that sibling similarity in education is similar in low– and high–socioeconomic status families. The negative influences of a higher birth order and a younger maternal age on educational attainment, however, are concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged families. These findings suggest that socioeconomically advantaged families do not generally compensate for ability differences between their children but that they compensate for disadvantageous life events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T08:09:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6e61f2baeed24dcd803df9b30a3493d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2330-6696 2330-6696 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T08:09:02Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | Society for Sociological Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociological Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-6e61f2baeed24dcd803df9b30a3493d72022-12-22T02:04:37ZengSociety for Sociological ScienceSociological Science2330-66962330-66962018-05-0151124626910.15195/v5.a11Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational AdvantageMichael Grätz0Nuffield College, University of Oxford; Bielefeld UniversityResearch on educational mobility is concerned with inequalities between families. Differences in innate abilities and parental responses lead, however, to educational differences between siblings. If parental responses vary by family socioeconomic background, within-family inequality can affect between-family inequality (i.e., educational mobility). This study uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) to test whether sibling similarity in education varies by family socioeconomic background. In addition, I test whether the effects of birth order, birth spacing, and maternal age on education vary by family background. Results show that sibling similarity in education is similar in low– and high–socioeconomic status families. The negative influences of a higher birth order and a younger maternal age on educational attainment, however, are concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged families. These findings suggest that socioeconomically advantaged families do not generally compensate for ability differences between their children but that they compensate for disadvantageous life events.https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v5-11-246/Educational InequalityIntergenerational TransmissionSiblingsSocial Mobility |
| spellingShingle | Michael Grätz Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage Sociological Science Educational Inequality Intergenerational Transmission Siblings Social Mobility |
| title | Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage |
| title_full | Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage |
| title_fullStr | Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage |
| title_full_unstemmed | Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage |
| title_short | Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage |
| title_sort | competition in the family inequality between siblings and the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage |
| topic | Educational Inequality Intergenerational Transmission Siblings Social Mobility |
| url | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v5-11-246/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelgratz competitioninthefamilyinequalitybetweensiblingsandtheintergenerationaltransmissionofeducationaladvantage |