Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intergenerational Wealth and Educational Resources

卡洛琳·霍奇斯·珀塞尔：凯瑟琳·M·法伊弗本文调查了代际家庭财富对获得教育资源的影响，包括资源丰富的学校和地区以及私立学校。两条探究路线指导着拟议的研究。首先，代际财富是否会影响对学生一生机会至关重要的教育资源的获取？如果是这样的话，财富在多大程度上有影响，与传统的社会经济指标相比，包括父母收入、教育和职业声望，财富的影响如何？对于获取此类资源，流动或非流动财富等某些类型的资产是否比其他类型的资产更重要？第二，在教育资源的财富回报方面是否存在种族不平等？换句话说，拥有类似资产的非裔美国人和白人是否获得了类似的教育资源？这些问题将使用包含多代家庭(收入动态小组研究(PSID))、学龄儿童(PSID儿童发展补充资料)、学校和学区(共同核心数据)和当地社区(美国人口普查数据)的纵向数据的四个国家数据集来解决。这篇论文的研究将通过阐明财富影响重要生活结果的潜在过程来推进分层领域的社会学知识。此外，调查结果将允许就两个关键问题进行更明智的政策辩论，并更好地理解种族不平等。首先，财富效应的证据将与关于“金钱对生活机会有多重要”(或不重要)的政策辩论有关，目前这场辩论的重点是收入，而收入不足以衡量整体家庭幸福程度。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证据以及目前降低遗产税的努力，这一点特别令人感兴趣。最后，除了财富方面明显的种族不平等，在将财富转化为教育资源的能力方面发现种族差异(或缺乏差异)可能会为旨在加强少数族裔的教育机会和生活机会的政策提供依据。

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.