Genetic influence on intergenerational educational attainment

Ayorech, Ziada, Krapohl, Eva, Plomin, Robert and von Stumm, Sophie (2017) Genetic influence on intergenerational educational attainment. Psychological Science, 28 (9). pp. 1302-1310. ISSN 0956-7976

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Abstract

Using twin (6,105 twin pairs) and genomic (5,825 unrelated individuals taken from the twin sample) analyses, we tested for genetic influences on the parent-offspring correspondence in educational attainment. Genetics accounted for nearly half of the variance in intergenerational educational attainment. A genomewide polygenic score (GPS) for years of education was also associated with intergenerational educational attainment: The highest and lowest GPS means were found for offspring in stably educated families (i.e., who had taken A Levels and had a university-educated parent; M = 0.43, SD = 0.97) and stably uneducated families (i.e., who had not taken A Levels and had no university-educated parent; M = −0.19, SD = 0.97). The average GPSs fell in between for children who were upwardly mobile (i.e., who had taken A Levels but had no university-educated parent; M = 0.05, SD = 0.96) and children who were downwardly mobile (i.e., who had not taken A Levels but had a university-educated parent; M = 0.28, SD = 1.03). Genetic influences on intergenerational educational attainment can be viewed as an index of equality of educational opportunity.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://journals.sagepub.com/home/pss
Additional Information:	© 2017 The Authors © CC BY 4.0
Divisions:	Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2018 16:09
Last Modified:	03 Nov 2025 08:42
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/86756

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