Abstract
ObjectivesEducational 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 FindingsWe 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.DiscussionThese findings suggest that as educational opportunities broadened in the 20th century, African-Americans gained access to educational opportunities that better matched their individual abilities.
Highlights
Educational attainment is an enduring predictor of adult health
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
The mean educational attainment progressively increased with decreasing age of the groups: It increased from 5.67 for the 80–89 age group to 12.3, 12.6, 13.3, 13.6, 13.9, and 14.0 in the 70–79, 60–69, 50–59, 40–49, 30–39, and 20–29 age groups, respectively
Summary
Educational attainment is an enduring predictor of adult health. Higher educational attainment is associated with decreased mortality [1,2,3], decreased disability [4,5], and decreased cardiovascular disease [6]. Link and Phelan have posited [7] the ability of those with higher education to take advantage of resources, attain fulfilling jobs, respond to new health information, and gain access to health care. The connection between higher levels of education and increased cognitive functioning is another possible pathway by which increased education can lead to better health [8]. Educational attainment was historically severely limited among African-Americans, in the South. Restrictions on education gradually lessened but remained during the Jim Crow era. Schools were racially segregated, and the quality of black schools was markedly inferior to that of white schools [10]
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