Social Class and Educational Attainment: Do Blacks Benefit Less from Increases in Parents’ Social Class Status?

Bumpus, John P.; Umeh, Zimife; Harris, Angel L.

doi:10.1177/2332649219854465

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Compared to non-Hispanic white (NHW) adolescents, racial minority adolescents, particularly non-Hispanic black (NHB) adolescents, are at an increased risk of school dropout and poor academic achievement [1]. As academic success in the earlier stages of life is a gateway to future economic development and health later in life [2][3][4][5], it is imperative to close the racial inequalities early in life if we wish to eliminate subsequent inequalities during adulthood [2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Adolescents’ Attention: Blacks’ Diminished Returns

2020

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Background: Racial minorities, particularly non-Hispanic blacks (NHBs) in the US, experience weaker effects from their families’ socioeconomic status on tangible outcomes, a pattern called the Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) theory. These MDRs are frequently shown in the effects of the families’ socioeconomic status (SES) on NHB adolescents’ school performance. As a result of these MDRs, NHB adolescents from high SES families show a worse than expected school performance. The existing knowledge is, however, minimal about the role of attention in explaining the diminished returns of the families’ SES with regard to the adolescents’ outcomes. Aim: To investigate the racial differences in the effects of the subjective family SES on adolescents’ attention, we compared non-Hispanic white (NHW) and NHB adolescents to assess the effect of the subjective family SES on adolescents’ attention. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis that included 4188 adolescents from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. The independent variable was the subjective family SES. The primary outcome was the adolescents’ attention to be measured by the stop-signal task (SST). The attention domain of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was also measured. Results: Overall, a high subjective family SES was associated with a higher task-based and CBCL-based attention. Race showed statistically significant interactions with subjective family SES in terms of adolescents’ attention outcomes. These interactions suggested that a high subjective family SES has smaller tangible effects on increasing the attention of NHB than NHW adolescents. Conclusion: The boosting effect of subjective family SES on attention is diminished for NHB rather than NHW adolescents. To minimize the racial gap in attention-related behaviors, such as school performance, we need to address the diminished returns of resources in the lives of NHB families. Not only should we equalize SES, but also increase the marginal returns of SES for racial minorities, particularly NHB families. Such efforts require public policies that empower NHB families to better leverage their SES resources and turn them into tangible outcomes. In addition, social policies should directly aim to alter the societal barriers that limit NHB families’ ability to effectively utilize their resources. Discrimination, segregation, and racism should be targets of our policy solutions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Adolescents’ Attention: Blacks’ Diminished Returns

2020

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“…Two-parent White and Black households did not differ in the return of parental education. For adolescents not in two-parent households, however, Blacks and Hispanics benefit less than non-Hispanic Whites from mothers' but not fathers' occupational prestige on their college enrollment [8].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…A recent study used some national data and found that Black adolescents receive smaller academic benefits from parental social class than their white counterparts [8]. Authors found that youth from highly educated Black and Hispanic families are less likely to be accepted to college despite high occupational prestige of their parents [8]. They, however, found that parents' gender and parental marital status play a role in the racial differences in the marginal return of parental SES on adolescents' outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minorities’ Diminished Returns of Parental Educational Attainment on Adolescents’ Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems

et al. 2020

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Aim: To compare racial groups for the effect of parental educational attainment on adolescents’ social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 10,762 youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were included. The independent variable was parental educational attainment. The main outcomes were (1) anxious and depressed mood, (2) withdrawn and depressed affect, (3) somatic complaints, (4) social and interpersonal problems, (5) thought problems, (6) rule-breaking behaviors, (7) attention problems, and (8) violent and aggressive behaviors. These scores were generated based on parent-reported behavioral problems measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Race and ethnicity were the moderators. Linear regression was used to analyze the ABCD data. Results: Overall, high parental educational attainment was associated with lower scores across all domains. Race and ethnicity showed statistically significant interactions with parental educational attainment on adolescents’ fewer social, emotional, and behavioral problems (all domains), net of all confounders, indicating smaller tangible gains from their parental educational attainment for Black and Hispanic compared to non-Hispanic White adolescents. Conclusions: The protective effects of parental education against social, emotional, and behavioral problems are systematically diminished for Hispanic and Black than non-Hispanic White adolescents.

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“…As shown by Bumpus, Umeh, and Harris [54], Black youth receive smaller benefits from their parents' social class than non-Hispanic Whites. They found that for youth not in married households, Blacks gain less benefits from their mothers' occupational prestige on their youth outcomes (particularly college enrollment) than non-Hispanic Whites [54]. Previous research has shown that these patterns hold for education [3], employment [55], income [19,49,51,56,57], and marital status [58].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Diminished Returns of Parental Education in Terms of Youth School Performance: Ruling out Regression toward the Mean

et al. 2020

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Background: Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) refer to systemically weaker effects of socioeconomic status (SES) indicators on various developmental, behavioral, and health outcomes of ethnic minorities compared to non-Hispanic (non-Latino) Whites. Similar MDRs also exist for the effects of parental education on the school performance of ethnic minority youth. Aim: To assess whether regression toward the mean (RTM) has any role in explaining the diminished effects of parental education on the school performance of Black and Hispanic youth relative to non-Hispanic White youth. Materials and methods: Data for this cross-sectional study came from the Monitoring the Future survey (MTF, 2017), a nationally representative survey of American youth in 12th grade. The sample included 10,262 youth who were 12th graders (typically 17–18 years old). The independent variable was parental education with five categories: Some high school, High school graduate, Some college, College graduate, and Graduate school. The outcome was self-reported school performance measured as grade point average (GPA). Ethnicity was the effect modifier. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey Post Hoc test was used to analyze the data. Data visualization (line graphs) was used to visualize the shape of youth GPA as a function of parental education levels across ethnic groups. Results: While a perfect stepwise increase was seen in youth school performance as a result of parental education improvement, this pattern differed considerably across ethnic groups. Such a perfect stepwise increase in youth school performance as a result of the incremental increase in parental education was missing for Black and Hispanic youth. The shape of the association between parental education and youth school performance ruled out regression toward the mean (RTM) as an explanation for the observed diminished effects of parental education on the school performance of Black and Hispanic youth. Conclusion: Diminished returns of parental education on the school performance of Black and Hispanic youth cannot be explained by regression toward the mean. Other factors and contextual processes, such as segregation, discrimination, racism, and poor quality of schools in urban areas, should be investigated in future research.

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Social Class and Educational Attainment: Do Blacks Benefit Less from Increases in Parents’ Social Class Status?

Cited by 24 publications

References 70 publications

Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Adolescents’ Attention: Blacks’ Diminished Returns

Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Adolescents’ Attention: Blacks’ Diminished Returns

Minorities’ Diminished Returns of Parental Educational Attainment on Adolescents’ Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems

Diminished Returns of Parental Education in Terms of Youth School Performance: Ruling out Regression toward the Mean

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