Mechanisms for a Trivers-Willard Effect on Educational Attainment in the U.S.

• In Event: 467 - Section on Evolution, Biology and Society Paper Session. Sexualities and Other Evolutionary and Biological Themes in the Study of the Social World

Abstract

This paper seeks to uncover the mechanisms by which the sons of high status men obtain higher levels of education than the daughters, and the daughters of low status men obtain higher levels of education than the sons. Data are from the High School and Beyond Study by the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics. Results suggest that parental financial investments help produce this effect: the sons of high status men are more likely than daughters to be sent to private school, are less likely to be employed extensively in high school, and are less likely to save money from their job for college; while the daughters of low status men are more likely than sons to be sent to private schools, less likely to be employed extensively in high school, and are less likely to save money from their job for college. These investments pay off, as the sons of high status men earn higher academic GPAs than do the daughters, while the daughters of low status men earn higher academic GPAs than do the sons. In turn, academic GPA in high school helps explain the Trivers Willard effect in educational attainment. Parental encouragement (as measured by student academic expectations as sophomores in high school) also helps explain why the sons of high status men obtain higher degrees than the daughters. Together, these two factors: student’s academic GPA in high school and his /her expectations of educational attainment , fully explain the Trivers-Willard effect in educational attainment in the U.S.

Authors

• Rosemary L. Hopcroft, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

• David O. Martin, University of North Carolina-Charlotte