Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2025

Sex Stratified Neuronal Cultures to Study Ischemic Cell Death Pathways
Published on: December 9, 2013
Nature, Nurture, and the Meaning of Educational Attainment: Differences by Sex and Socioeconomic Status
Thalida Em Arpawong1, Margaret Gatz2,3, Catalina Zavala2
1Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Abstract:
Estimated heritability of educational attainment (EA) varies widely, from 23% to 80%, with growing evidence suggesting the degree to which genetic variation contributes to individual differences in EA is highly dependent upon situational factors. We aimed to decompose EA into influences attributable to genetic propensity and to environmental context and their interplay, while considering influences of rearing household economic status (HES) and sex. We use the Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study, drawn from the population-representative cohort of high school students assessed in 1960 and followed through 2014, to ages 68-72. Data from 3552 twins and siblings from 1741 families were analyzed using multilevel regression and multiple group structural equation models. Individuals from less-advantaged backgrounds had lower EA and less variation. Genetic variance accounted for 51% of the total variance, but within women and men, 40% and 58% of the total variance respectively. Men had stable genetic variance on EA across all HES strata, whereas high HES women showed the same level of genetic influence as men, and lower HES women had constrained genetic influence on EA. Unexpectedly, middle HES women showed the largest constraints in genetic influence on EA. Shared family environment appears to make an outsized contribution to greater variability for women in this middle stratum and whether they pursue more EA. Implications are that without considering early life opportunity, genetic studies on education may mischaracterize sex differences because education reflects different degrees of genetic and environmental influences for women and men.
More Related Videos
07:15Author Spotlight: Understanding Adolescent Social Adversity Effects on Neurodevelopment in Mice
Published on: March 15, 2024
07:32Use of Galvanic Skin Responses, Salivary Biomarkers, and Self-reports to Assess Undergraduate Student Performance During a Laboratory Exam Activity
Published on: February 10, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Nature and Nurture
Heritability
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Biological Influences on Intelligence
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison