Factors Affecting Social Attainment Among Individuals: Evidence from the National Educational Longitudinal Study 1988-2000

This study draws from extant literature on social attainment to examine what factors affect the attaining of higher incomes, education, and occupational ranks. Research on five distinct factors is examined and analyzed using a sample of about 6,000 students from a national longitudinal study across the United States between 1988-2000 as they transitioned from eight grade through high school and into the labor force: (1) background characteristics: household type, race, and gender, (2) social capital, (3) cultural capital, (4) academic ability, and (5) parental social class. The results revealed that these factors affect social attainment. I also examined if parental socio-economic status interacts with other factors. The results of the study showed that the gap between rich and poor has grown over the last 30 years. The rich are getting further ahead in the race for social attainment.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts in Social Sciences (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Ndofor, Michael Foleng

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pidi Zhang
• Eric Silva

• ETD
• Attainment
• Inequality
• Status
• Students
• Parents
• Class
• Capital
• Social capital (Sociology)
• United States
• Equality

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/626

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1626