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Gepubliceerd in:

06-06-2020 | Empirical Research

Believing and Achieving: Gendered Pathways Toward Upward Educational Mobility in the United States

Auteurs: Mark Lee, Jeylan T. Mortimer

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence | Uitgave 3/2021

Abstract

Little research has investigated the impact of adolescent motivational resources, other than educational plans, on adult educational attainment, or whether their effects differ by gender and social class. Data from the St. Paul Youth Development Study (n = 874, 55% female, 30% children of college graduates) are used to estimate a second-order latent motivation factor encompassing adolescent (age 15–16) educational plans, academic self-concept, economic self-efficacy, and mastery. Then, using logistic regression, the effect of this second-order factor on odds of college graduation in adulthood (ages 26–27 to 37–38) is estimated. Heterogenous effects of motivation by gender and parental education are investigated. The results show that the second-order motivation factor had strong positive effects on educational attainment after adjusting for family background variables. The effect of motivation did not differ by gender in the whole sample nor among children of college graduates. However, among children of less-educated parents, women were found to benefit more than men from these psychological assets for achieving upward educational mobility. These findings suggest that adolescent motivation, especially among U.S. women whose parents do not have college degrees, may be a resource for higher educational attainment.

vorige artikel Can Individual Agency Compensate for Background Disadvantage? Predicting Tertiary Educational Attainment among Males and Females

volgende artikel Invited Commentary: Societal Constraints and Individual Agency: Navigating Educational Transitions for Upward Mobility

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It is unlikely that this study is significantly biased by missing information from non-responding parents. Of those with both parents responding, most reported identical levels of education. Also, the majority of YDS participants with only one responding parent were living in a single-parent household.

As a robustness check, the models were re-estimated the models using listwise deletion. These models produced nearly identical results to the models presented here.

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Titel: Believing and Achieving: Gendered Pathways Toward Upward Educational Mobility in the United States
Auteurs: Mark Lee
Jeylan T. Mortimer
Publicatiedatum: 06-06-2020
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence / Uitgave 3/2021
Print ISSN: 0047-2891
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-6601
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01263-5

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