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Education in Time: Cohort Differences in Educational Attainment in African-American Twins

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  • Sarah L Szanton
  • Brandon Johnson
  • Roland J Thorpe Jr.
  • Keith Whitfield

Abstract

Objectives: Educational opportunities for African-Americans expanded throughout the 20th century. Twin pairs are an informative population in which to examine changes in educational attainment because each twin has the same parents and childhood socioeconomic status. We hypothesized that correlation in educational attainment of older twin pairs would be higher compared to younger twin pairs reflecting changes in educational access over time and potentially reflecting a “ceiling effect” associated with Jim Crow laws and discrimination. Methodology and Principal Findings: We used data from 211 same-sex twin pairs (98 identical, 113 fraternal) in the Carolina African-American Twin Study of Aging who were identified through birth records. Participants completed an in-person interview. The twins were predominantly female (61%), with a mean age of 50 years (SD = 0.5). We found that older age groups had a stronger intra-twin correlation of attained educational level. Further analysis across strata revealed a trend across zygosity, with identical twins demonstrating more similar educational attainment levels than did their fraternal twin counterparts, suggesting a genetic influence. Discussion: These findings suggest that as educational opportunities broadened in the 20th century, African-Americans gained access to educational opportunities that better matched their individual abilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah L Szanton & Brandon Johnson & Roland J Thorpe Jr. & Keith Whitfield, 2009. "Education in Time: Cohort Differences in Educational Attainment in African-American Twins," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(10), pages 1-3, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0007664
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007664
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nancy Krieger & Jarvis T Chen & Brent A Coull & Joe V Selby, 2005. "Lifetime Socioeconomic Position and Twins' Health: An Analysis of 308 Pairs of United States Women Twins," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(7), pages 1-1, July.
    2. Joe Feinglass & Suru Lin & Jason Thompson & Joseph Sudano & Dorothy Dunlop & Jing Song & David W. Baker, 2007. "Baseline Health, Socioeconomic Status, and 10-Year Mortality Among Older Middle-Aged Americans: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study, 1992–2002," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(4), pages 209-217.
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    Cited by:

    1. Szanton, Sarah L. & Thorpe, Roland J. & Whitfield, Keith, 2010. "Life-course financial strain and health in African-Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 259-265, July.

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