Conference Agenda

Ample research has shown that children from higher-educated parents attain higher education than children from lower-educated parents. Research has also demonstrated cross-context variation in the effect of parental education and parental educational combinations on children’s educational attainment. Yet, studies have not described and explained cross-context variation in the effect of having two highly educated parents on children’s educational attainment despite the substantial increase of this type of parents in modern Western populations. In this paper, we aim to describe and explain this variation. We hypothesize that in contexts where parental educational homogamy is less common, educational systems are more stratified, and female participation rates are higher, the effect of belonging to highly educated parents on children’s educational attainment is stronger. This may be explained by the selectivity of educational homogamy and the possibilities for parents to pool resources and enhance their children’s educational careers. Preliminary analyses of the European Social Survey show cross-country variation in parental homogamy effects on children’s advancement to tertiary education. In further analyses, we plan to extend this by focusing on the effect of highly educated parents on general educational attainment. We also study effects for boys and girls separately and investigate country and regional variation within the ESS.