The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?

It remains unclear how far back the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage operates because most inquiries are limited to two or three generations. In this study, the authors use four generations of family data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the association of gr...

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Main Authors: Megan Evans, Jonathan Daw, S. Michael Gaddis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2021-12-01
Series:Socius
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211060573
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author Megan Evans
Jonathan Daw
S. Michael Gaddis
author_facet Megan Evans
Jonathan Daw
S. Michael Gaddis
author_sort Megan Evans
collection DOAJ
description It remains unclear how far back the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage operates because most inquiries are limited to two or three generations. In this study, the authors use four generations of family data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the association of great-grandparents’ educational attainment with their great-grandchildren’s early academic achievement, net of intervening generations’ educational attainments. The authors find that the relationship between great-grandparent educational attainment and great-grandchild early academic achievement is nonlinear, modest, and accounted for entirely by the educational attainment of intervening generations and great-grandchild demographic characteristics. Thus, for early academic achievement, the direct transmission of intergenerational educational advantage is limited to three generations in these data.
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spelling doaj.art-8d8146b06eca431bbbbfa9021105f1ef2022-12-21T22:43:49ZengSAGE PublishingSocius2378-02312021-12-01710.1177/23780231211060573The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?Megan Evans0Jonathan Daw1S. Michael Gaddis2The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USAThe Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USAUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USAIt remains unclear how far back the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage operates because most inquiries are limited to two or three generations. In this study, the authors use four generations of family data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the association of great-grandparents’ educational attainment with their great-grandchildren’s early academic achievement, net of intervening generations’ educational attainments. The authors find that the relationship between great-grandparent educational attainment and great-grandchild early academic achievement is nonlinear, modest, and accounted for entirely by the educational attainment of intervening generations and great-grandchild demographic characteristics. Thus, for early academic achievement, the direct transmission of intergenerational educational advantage is limited to three generations in these data.https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211060573
spellingShingle Megan Evans
Jonathan Daw
S. Michael Gaddis
The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?
Socius
title The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?
title_full The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?
title_fullStr The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?
title_full_unstemmed The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?
title_short The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?
title_sort generational boundaries of educational advantage does great grandparent educational attainment predict great grandchild early academic achievement
url https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211060573
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