Social and Genetic Origins Show Similar Patterns of Stratification in Educational Attainment

Family background is strongly correlated with educational attainment, and this correlation can stem from genetics, family environments, or their interplay. Using data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study linked to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and administrative records, the author shows that social and genetic origins display broadly similar levels of stratification. Among those who obtain a master’s or PhD degree, 51 percent have parents from the highest education quartile, and 42 percent have a polygenic index from the highest quartile. Both sources likely drive intergenerational correlations. But the two origins are not independent. Roughly half of the polygenic index’s association with education comes from family environments, not direct genetic effects. Part of the resemblance is therefore the index remeasuring social origin, not genes and environment arriving at the same place.