Doctoral Dissertation Research: Why Has the Meritocratic Power of Advanced Degrees Declined?: The Role of Higher Education in Promoting Upward Mobility

为什么研究生教育没有促进更大的社会流动性，而本科教育却有？大学通常被认为是伟大的均衡器，因为它促进了向上流动。 但高等教育的扩张可能无法确保每个人都有平等的机会，特别是当越来越多的人获得高等学位时。本课题将研究为什么家庭背景的影响在高学历者中变得更强，而在只有学士/学士学位的人中仍然很弱。这项研究通过研究至少拥有学士/学士学位的人的收入水平来评估三种解释。 这些人可能：1）获得高利润的高级学位，如MBA或专业学位（垂直选择）; 2）在本科阶段主修非职业领域的研究，在研究生阶段主修有利可图的领域，包括健康，法律和商业（横向选择）;或3）在较早的年龄完成教育，并有更多年的工作经验（累积优势）。该项目将为家庭和教育工作者提供对各种类型高等教育投资的相对权衡的影响。 该项目还将为各州和美国社会制定旨在促进有益教育投资的政策提供启示。 该项目将分析获得不同程度高等教育的成年人的教育收入回报。 该项目将分析超过150，000名年龄在35-54岁的受访者，他们来自2003年，2010年，2013年和2015年全国大学毕业生调查数据以及IPUMS 5%人口普查数据，至少有一个学士学位。的水平，并有积极的收入。该项目将使用对数乘层效应和多元回归模型来研究垂直选择、水平选择和累积优势在多大程度上解释收入水平差异。 该项目还将研究这些过程中的性别差异以及这些影响如何随着时间的推移而变化。 该项目将告知社会学理论有关的社会流动性和社会选择的作用，在美国的各种类型的高等教育。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Why has graduate education not facilitated greater social mobility while undergraduate education has? College is often thought to be the great equalizer because it promotes upward mobility. But the expansion of higher education may not ensure equal opportunity for everyone, especially when a growing number of people are acquiring an advanced degree. This project will study why the influence of family background becomes stronger among advanced degree holders while it is still weak among those with a BA/BS degree only. This study evaluates three explanations by studying the income levels of those with at least a BA/BS degree. These people may: 1) attain a highly-lucrative advanced degree such as an MBA or professional degree (vertical selection); 2) major in a non-vocational field of study at the undergraduate level and a profitable one at the graduate level, including health, law, and business (horizontal selection); or 3) complete education at an earlier age and have more years of work experience (cumulative advantage). The project will provide implications for families and educators concerned with the relative tradeoffs for investment in various types of higher education. The project will also provide implications for states and U.S. society generally in creating policies aimed at promoting useful educational investment. This project will analyze income returns to education for adults who achieve various levels of higher education. The project will analyze over 150,000 respondents aged 35-54 from the 2003, 2010, 2013 and 2015 National Survey of College Graduates data and the IPUMS 5% Census data with at least a bachelor?s degree and having a positive income. The project will use log-multiplicative layer effect and multivariate regression models to examine the extent to which vertical selection, horizontal selection, and cumulative advantage explain income level differences. The project will also study gender differences in these processes as well as how these effects have changed over time. The project will inform sociological theories concerned with social mobility and the role of social selection into various types of higher education in the United States.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.