The Nature-Nurture of Academic Achievement at the Intersection between Gender, Family Background, and School Context
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The Nature-Nurture of Academic Achievement at the Intersection between Gender, Family Background, and School Context. / Stienstra, Kim; Karlson, Kristian Bernt.
In: Social Science Research, Vol. 111, 102870, 2023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Nature-Nurture of Academic Achievement at the Intersection between Gender, Family Background, and School Context
AU - Stienstra, Kim
AU - Karlson, Kristian Bernt
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - We investigate the role of gender, family SES, school SES, and their intersection in educational achievement using a twin design. Drawing on theories of gene-environment interaction, we test whether high-SES environments compensate genetic risks or enhance genetic potential, and its dependency on gender. Using data on 37,000 Danish twin and sibling pairs from population-wide administrative registers, we report three main findings. First, for family SES, but not for school SES, we find that genetic influences play a slightly smaller role in high-SES environments. Second, this relationship is moderated by child gender: in high-SES families, the genetic influence is considerably lower for boys than for girls. Third, the moderating effect of family SES for boys is almost entirely driven by children attending low-SES schools. Our findings thus point to significant heterogeneity in gene-environment interactions, highlighting the importance of considering the multiplicity of social contexts.
AB - We investigate the role of gender, family SES, school SES, and their intersection in educational achievement using a twin design. Drawing on theories of gene-environment interaction, we test whether high-SES environments compensate genetic risks or enhance genetic potential, and its dependency on gender. Using data on 37,000 Danish twin and sibling pairs from population-wide administrative registers, we report three main findings. First, for family SES, but not for school SES, we find that genetic influences play a slightly smaller role in high-SES environments. Second, this relationship is moderated by child gender: in high-SES families, the genetic influence is considerably lower for boys than for girls. Third, the moderating effect of family SES for boys is almost entirely driven by children attending low-SES schools. Our findings thus point to significant heterogeneity in gene-environment interactions, highlighting the importance of considering the multiplicity of social contexts.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - Educational achievement
KW - Gene-environment interaction
KW - Twin study
KW - Administrative data
U2 - 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102870
DO - 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102870
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36898789
VL - 111
JO - Social Science Research
JF - Social Science Research
SN - 0049-089X
M1 - 102870
ER -
ID: 336070511