Term of Award
Spring 2012
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Social Sciences (M.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Committee Chair
Ted Brimeyer
Committee Member 1
Pidi Zhang
Committee Member 2
Eric Silva
Abstract
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.
Recommended Citation
Ndofor, Michael Foleng, "Factors Affecting Social Attainment Among Individuals: Evidence from the National Educational Longitudinal Study 1988-2000" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 626.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/626
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
