Educational Attainment

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Goal

The goal of this module is to explore the relationship between demographic characteristics and educational attainment. Frequencies and comparison of means will be used.

Concept

Educational attainment is a key concept for social scientists interested in social inequality, social mobility, and class. Educational attainment is closely related to occupation and income, with many better-paying jobs requiring a college degree or other advanced study. Thus, group differences in educational attainment are usually indicative of group differences in other areas of social life.

Examples of possible research questions about educational attainment:

  • Do demographics like age, gender, race, nativity or disability relate to educational attainment, and if so how?
  • What is the relationship between educational attainment and income?
  • How does social inequality affect educational attainment?

Data for this exercise come from the American Community Study, 2005. The ACS is part of the U.S. Decennial Census Program, and is collected by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The ACS publishes yearly estimates of social, housing, and economic characteristics for the United States and Puerto Rico. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin. Social characteristics include school enrollment, educational attainment, marital status, fertility, disability status, place of birth, U.S. citizenship status, year of entry, world region of birth of foreign born, language spoken at home, and ancestry. Variables focusing on economic characteristics include employment status, commuting to work, occupation, industry, class of worker, income and benefits, and poverty status.

The ACS is representative of all persons and housing units in the United States. In this exercise, the data file "DS104: United States Population" will be used.

This exercise will use the following variables:

  • Educational attainment (SCHL)
  • Age (AGEP)
  • Race (RAC1P)
  • Gender (SEX)
  • Nativity (NATIVITY)
  • Disability status (DS)
  • Personal income (PINCP)

For this exercise you will be exploring the relationship between educational attainment and demographic characteristics using frequencies and comparison of means.

Educational Attainment

Because many young people have not yet finished their education we restrict all analyses to people ages 25 and older by using "agep(25-95)" as a filter.

First consider the distribution of educational attainment in the data. We recoded educational attainment (SCHL) into two new variables. The first, "SCHOOL," contains six educational categories and excludes those with missing data. The second new variable, "DEGREE," is dichotomous, with those with any college degree (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate, or professional) coded as "1" and those with no college degree coded as "0."

Take a look at the frequencies of SCHOOL and DEGREE. What percentage of respondents has less than a high school diploma? What level of education is most common? What percentage of respondents has degrees?

Educational Attainment and Race

Now examine the relationship between educational attainment and race. We recoded the race variable (RAC1P) into five categories: 1=White alone, 2=Black alone, 3=American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, 4=Asian alone, 5=Two or more, or other race. We called the new variable "RACE5."

Run a comparison of means of DEGREE by RACE5. Remember that because DEGREE is coded as 0 or 1, the mean for each racial group is also the proportion of that group with a college degree. Which racial groups have the highest proportion of college degrees?

Educational Attainment and Gender

Now look at the relationship between educational attainment and gender as shown in the comparison of means of DEGREE by SEX. Is there a higher proportion of men with college degrees than women with college degrees?

Educational Attainment and Nativity

Next consider if educational attainment varies depending on whether one is native or foreign born. Does the comparison of means of DEGREE by NATIVITY show that native born Americans are more likely to have a college degree than foreign born Americans?

Educational Attainment and Disability Status

Finally, examine the relationship between disability status and educational attainment. Does the comparison of means of DEGREE by disability status (DS) indicate whether people with a disability are more or less likely to have a college degree than those without a disability?

Income Status and Educational Attainment

Think about the ways in which individuals' educational attainment might be related to their personal income. First, look at the comparison of means of personal income (PINCP) by DEGREE. What is the average income of those without a college degree? How does it compare to the average income of those with a college degree?

Next run a comparison of means of PINCP by SCHOOL. Remember that the analysis is restricted to individuals ages 25 and over. Which group has the lowest average income? Which group has the highest? How important is the difference between the two?

Think about your answers to the application questions before you click through to the interpretation guide for help in answering them.

Educational Attainment

What percentage of the population has less than a high school diploma? What level of education is most common? How many have degrees?

Educational Attainment and Race

What racial group has the highest proportion of college degrees? What group has the lowest proportion?

Educational Attainment and Gender

Does the proportion with college degrees differ by gender?

Educational Attainment and Nativity

Are native born Americans more likely to have a college degree than foreign born Americans?

Educational Attainment and Disability Status

Are people with a disability more or less likely to have a college degree than those without a disability?

Income Status and Educational Attainment

How does the average income of those without a college degree compare to those with a college degree? Between which educational levels are income differences the greatest?

Interpretation

Reading the results: the numbers in each row of the comparison of means tables show the mean value of the dependent variable for each group. For the dependent variable "DEGREE", which is coded dichotomously, the mean for each group is also the proportion of that group with a college degree. For the dependent variable "PINCP" the mean income for each educational level is shown.

Weights (mathematical formulas) are often used to adjust the sample proportions, usually by race, sex, or age, to more closely match those of the general population. The analyses in this guide used weights to increase the generalizability of the findings, so the resulting tables are meant to reflect the relationships we would expect to see in the general population.

The analyses show the following:

  • About 35% of Americans ages 25 and over have college degrees. 29.5% have high school diplomas, and 16% have less than a high school diploma.
  • Individuals reporting their race as "Asian alone" or "White alone" are more likely to have a college degree than individuals of other races. 56% of Asian respondents and 36% of White respondents have a college degree.
  • Men and women are about equally likely to have a college degree (35% and 34% respectively).
  • Native born individuals are only slightly more likely to have a college degree (35%) than foreign born individuals (32%).
  • Individuals reporting a disability are about half as likely to have a college degree as those without a disability.
  • People with a college degree earn, on average, about $55,000 per year which amounts to more than twice the yearly income of those without a college degree.
  • Individuals with a high school diploma average about $10,000 less per year than those with an Associates degree, and nearly $50,000 less per year than those with a graduate or professional degree.

Summary

The goal of this exercise was to demonstrate how educational attainment varies by demographic characteristics, and how income varies by educational attainment. Taken together, the results show that educational attainment varies by race, disability status, and to a smaller extent nativity. However the patterns are not as clear when it comes to gender. Income is strongly tied to educational attainment, with lower levels of education being related to lower income. The collapsing of variables into fewer categories allows patterns to be more easily identified without having to be concerned with small cell counts or tables that are unwieldy.

CITATION: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Educational Attainment: A Data-Driven Learning Guide. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2009-04-16. Doi: https://doi.org/10.3886/educationattain

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