Examining the Role of Parents’ Education in Income Attainment among American Indian and Alaska Natives

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 18. Race and Ethnicity in Education 2

Abstract

American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) peoples have lower earnings compared to non-Hispanic whites; they also have the lowest high school graduation rate in the US. This study focused on the extent to which AIAN disparities in income attainment are a product of differences in educational attainment, type of educational institution, major choice, and parents’ educational attainment. The data used is from the 2003 and 2010 National Survey of College Graduates. We use an OLS regression model to predict variation in log earnings. All models were ran for the men and women populations separately. We also use a decomposition-mediation technique to investigate whether the effect of AIAN race on log earnings is mediated in any part by our independent variables. Across both the men and women, the majority of our sample hold only a bachelor’s degree, and white wo/men are most likely to hold doctorate or professional degree. In our log-earnings estimates for men, we find that find that all racial and ethnic groups are disadvantaged in terms of log-earnings compared to white men until we control for both mother’s and father’s education level—suggesting a mediating role. Among all the women’s nested model, we do not find statistical significance relative to white women except for Hispanic women. In our decomposition-mediation models, we find that AIAN’s lesser likelihood of having a father with a Bachelor’s degree explains 21.5% of the negative effect of being an AIAN on logged earnings for men. We also find racial disparities in degree major (namely, education majors and business/finance majors) are important mediators in the effect of being AIAN on logged earnings. Our findings suggest the importance of father’s education and college degree in status attainment of AIAN men. Future research should continue to explore social mechanisms that contribute to AIAN social stratification.

Authors

• Kimberly R. Huyser, University of New Mexico

• Sofia Locklear, University of New Mexico

• Dara Shifrer, Portland State University