Life Course Timing of Higher Education Experiences and Later Life Cognition

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 24. Equity, Justice, and Health in Shaping Educational Outcomes

Abstract

The complex, beneficial relationship between education and cognition over the life course is an enduring dynamic of interest within sociology. However, few studies have investigated how the timing of educational experiences within the life course shapes the nature and magnitude of their relationship with cognition in older adulthood. In this study, we use longitudinal data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study core surveys and life history supplements to investigate the ways in which the timing, duration, and outcome of individuals’ exposures to higher education influence their cognition and dementia-related outcomes in later life. We specifically evaluate three hypotheses about the higher education—cognition relationship: (1) credential benefits, such that having a completed degree or not is the predominant factor affecting cognition; (2) normative benefits, such that the cognitive ‘returns’ are stronger for higher education exposure in early life; and (3) recency benefits, such that the returns are stronger for exposure at later ages. As the ages of college attendees are becoming increasingly diverse, this research question is an important step in further understanding how higher education exposures operate as determinants of life course health and well-being.

Authors

• Virginia Leiter, Pennsylvania State University

• Cayley Ryan-Claytor, University of Michigan