What Aspect of Education Matters for Early Mortality? Evidence from the High School and Beyond Cohort

• In Event: 343 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 18. Education and Health

Abstract

What aspect of “education” matters for mortality? Research on educational gradients in mortality virtually always operationalizes education in terms of years of schooling or highest degree completed. However, theories about how or why education affects mortality imply that “education” may be a proxy for cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, access to specific kinds of knowledge, or exposure to social networks. Using exceptionally rich data from the high school sophomore cohort of 1980---which was observed in the High School and Beyond study, and which was followed-up again in 2013-14---we model early mortality (through about age 50) as a function of these several aspects of “education.” Although cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, exposure to math and science knowledge, and attributes of social networks are all associated with early life mortality, none are independently associated with mortality net of indicators of highest degree completed. That is, these several aspects of education matter for mortality, but their effects operate entirely through traditional measures of educational attainment. Results are largely consistent for men and women and for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

Authors

• John Robert Warren, University of Minnesota

• Robert A. Hummer, University of Texas-Austin

• Melissa Humphries, University of Texas-Austin

• Chandra Muller, University of Texas

• Eric Grodsky, University of Wisconsin