Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intergenerational Wealth and Educational Resources

本文研究了代际家庭财富对教育资源获取的影响，包括资源丰富的学校和学区以及私立学校。两方面的调查指导了拟议的研究。首先，代际财富是否会影响学生获得教育资源的机会，而这些资源对学生的人生机遇至关重要？如果是这样，财富在多大程度上是重要的，它与传统的社会经济指标（包括父母收入、教育和职业声望）相比又如何？在获取此类资源时，某些类型的资产（如流动或非流动财富）是否比其他类型的资产更重要？第二，教育资源的财富回报是否存在种族不平等？换句话说，拥有同等资产的非裔美国人和白人是否获得了相似的教育资源？这些问题将使用四个国家数据集来解决，这些数据集包含多代家庭的纵向数据（收入动态小组研究（PSID）），学龄儿童（PSID儿童发展补充），学校和学区（共同核心数据）以及当地社区（美国人口普查数据）。论文研究将通过阐明财富影响重要生活结果的潜在过程，推进分层领域的社会学知识。此外，调查结果将有助于在两个关键问题上进行更明智的政策辩论，并更好地理解种族不平等。首先，财富效应的证据将引发有关“金钱对生活机会有何影响”（或不重要）的政策辩论，目前的辩论主要集中在收入上，而收入是衡量一般家庭福祉的不充分指标。其次，理解财富的广泛含义也将更好地为资产的社会政策提供信息。考虑到美国财富不平等加剧的迹象，以及目前减少遗产税的努力，这一点特别有趣。最后，除了财富上明显的种族不平等之外，发现将财富转化为教育资源的能力存在种族差异（或缺乏差异），可以为旨在提高少数种族的教育机会和生活机会的政策提供信息。

SES-0602185Caroline Hodges PersellCo-PI: Kathryn M. Pfeiffer This dissertation investigates the impact of intergenerational family wealth on access to educational resources, including resource-enriched schools and districts and private schooling. Two lines of inquiry guide the proposed research. First, does intergenerational wealth influence access to educational resources that are consequential for students' life chances? If so, to what extent does wealth matter, and how does it compare to traditional socioeconomic measures, including parental income, education, and occupational prestige? Are some types of assets, such as liquid or illiquid wealth, more important than others for acquiring such resources? Second, are there racial inequalities in the educational resource returns to wealth? In other words, do African Americans and whites with comparable assets obtain similar educational resources? These questions will be addressed using four national datasets containing longitudinal data on multiple generations of families (Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)), school-aged children (Child Development Supplement to the PSID), schools and school districts (Common Core of Data), and local neighborhoods (U.S. Census data). The dissertation research will advance sociological knowledge in the field of stratification through illuminating potential processes through which wealth affects important life outcomes. Additionally, findings will allow for more informed policy debate on two key issues and a better understanding of racial inequality. First, evidence of wealth effects will speak to the policy debate over "how money matters" (or does not matter) for life chances, which currently focuses on income, an inadequate measure of general family well-being. Second, understanding the broad implications of wealth will also better inform social policy for assets. This is of special interest considering evidence of increasing wealth inequality in the U.S. and current efforts to reduce the estate tax. Finally, in addition to the stark racial inequalities in wealth, a finding of racial differences (or lack of differences) in the ability to translate wealth into educational resources could inform policies aimed at enhancing the educational opportunities and life chances of racial minorities.