scholarly journals Reinforcing at the Top or Compensating at the Bottom? Family Background and Academic Performance in Germany, Norway, and the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-394
Author(s):  
Michael Grätz ◽  
Øyvind N Wiborg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Family Background ◽  
The United States ◽  
Socioeconomic Differences ◽  
National Differences ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Performance Distribution ◽  
Cross National

Abstract Research on educational mobility usually studies socioeconomic differences at the mean of children’s academic performance but fails to consider the variation in the shape of socioeconomic differences across the outcome distribution. Theories of social mobility as well as theories about the resource allocation within families predict such variation. We use quantile regression models to estimate variation in socioeconomic differences across the distribution of academic performance using different indicators of family background (parental education, occupation, earnings, and wealth). We apply this approach to data on Germany, Norway, and the United States, three countries that represent different welfare and education regimes that may affect the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage. We find stronger socioeconomic differences at the bottom than at the middle and the smallest differences at the top of the performance distribution. These findings are virtually identical across all four indicators of family background. We also find no cross-national differences in the shape of socioeconomic differences in academic performance.

scholarly journals Reinforcing at the Top or Compensating at the Bottom? Family Background and Academic Performance in Germany, Norway, and the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Grätz ◽  
Øyvind N. Wiborg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Family Background ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Performance Distribution ◽  
Cross National

Research on educational mobility usually fails to consider variation in the association between social origin and academic performance across the distribution of children’s academic performance. However, theories of social mobility as well as theories about resource allocation within families predict such variation. We use quantile regression models to estimate variations in the associations between different indicators of family background (parental education, occupation, earnings, and wealth) and children’s educational performance across the performance distribution. We apply this approach to data on Germany, Norway, and the United States, three countries that represent different kinds of welfare and education regimes that may affect the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage. We find a stronger association between family background and academic performance at the bottom than in the middle and the weakest association at the top of the performance distribution. These findings are virtually identical across all four indicators of family background. We also find no cross-national differences in the variation of the association between family background and academic performance across the performance distribution.

Hiring of Personal Ties: A Cultural Consensus Analysis of China and the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-xiao Liu ◽  
Joshua Keller ◽  
Ying-yi Hong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hiring Decisions ◽  
Perceived Fairness ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Consensus Analysis ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Overall Evaluation ◽  
Cross National

ABSTRACTAlthough employees react negatively when employers hire individuals with whom the employers have personal ties, the practice is prevalent worldwide. One factor contributing to the discrepancy between reactions to the practice may be differences in cultural beliefs and institutions regarding perceptions about hiring decisions. To examine cross-national differences in perceptions about hiring personal ties, we conducted a consensus analysis on the perceived fairness, profitability, and overall evaluation of hiring decisions in China and the United States. We find cross-national differences in consensus levels as to whether people believe it is fair or unfair to hire moderately qualified candidates with employer ties (kinships or close friends with the employer) and whether people positively or negatively evaluate the hiring of unqualified candidates with stakeholder ties (ties to business associates or government officials). We also find contrasting areas of consensus about whether hiring unqualified candidates with stakeholder ties is profitable. Implications for research on cultural comparisons of perceptions of hiring practices and guanxi are discussed.

scholarly journals Cultural Globalization and Arts Journalism: The International Orientation of Arts and Culture Coverage in Dutch, French, German, and U.S. Newspapers, 1955 to 2005

2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 719-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Janssen ◽  
Giselinde Kuipers ◽  
Marc Verboord
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
International Orientation ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Arts And Culture ◽  
Cross National

This article charts key developments and cross-national variations in the coverage of foreign culture (i.e., classical and popular music, dance, film, literature, theater, television, and visual arts) in Dutch, French, German, and U.S. elite newspapers between 1955 and 2005. Such coverage signals the awareness of foreign culture among national elites and the degree and direction of “globalization from within.” Using content analysis, we examine the degree, direction, and diversity of the international orientation of arts journalism for each country and cultural genre. Results denote how international arts and culture coverage has increased in Europe but not in the United States. Moreover, the centrality of a country in the cultural “world-system” offers a better explanation for cross-national differences in international orientation than do other country-level characteristics, such as size and cultural policy framework. Recorded and performance-based genres differ markedly in their levels of internationalization, but the effect of other genre-level characteristics, such as language dependency and capital intensiveness, is not clear. In each country, international coverage remains concentrated on a few countries, of which the United States has become the most prominent. Although the global diversity of coverage has increased, non-Western countries are still underrepresented.

Temperament styles of Indian and USA children

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Oakland ◽  
Kuldeep Singh ◽  
Camelo Callueng ◽  
Gurmit Singh Puri ◽  
Akiko Goen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Indian Children ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Imaginative Thinking ◽  
Cross National

Age, gender, and cross-national differences of children ages 8- through 16-years-old in India ( n = 400) and the United States of America ( n = 3,200) are examined on four bipolar temperament styles: extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling, and organized-flexible styles. In general, Indian children prefer extroverted to introverted, practical to imaginative, feeling to thinking, and organized to flexible styles. Gender differences among Indian children are significant only on extroversion-introversion. Age differences are found on thinking-feeling and organized-flexible styles. Cross-national differences are found on only one of the four bipolar styles: practical-imaginative. In contrast to children in the United States of America, those in India are more likely to prefer practical styles. Sample limitations (e.g. non-representativeness and small size relative to the population) limit the generalization of these data.

scholarly journals Sibling Similarity in Education Across and Within Societies

Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Grätz ◽  
Kieron J. Barclay ◽  
Øyvind N. Wiborg ◽  
Torkild H. Lyngstad ◽  
Aleksi Karhula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Family Background ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Grades ◽  
Sibling Correlations ◽  
Sibling Similarity ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The extent to which siblings resemble each other measures the omnibus impact of family background on life chances. We study sibling similarity in cognitive skills, school grades, and educational attainment in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also compare sibling similarity by parental education and occupation within these societies. The comparison of sibling correlations across and within societies allows us to characterize the omnibus impact of family background on education across social landscapes. Across countries, we find larger population-level differences in sibling similarity in educational attainment than in cognitive skills and school grades. In general, sibling similarity in education varies less across countries than sibling similarity in earnings. Compared with Scandinavian countries, the United States shows more sibling similarity in cognitive skills and educational attainment but less sibling similarity in school grades. We find that socioeconomic differences in sibling similarity vary across parental resources, countries, and measures of educational success. Sweden and the United States show greater sibling similarity in educational attainment in families with a highly educated father, and Finland and Norway show greater sibling similarity in educational attainment in families with a low-educated father. We discuss the implications of our results for theories about the impact of institutions and income inequality on educational inequality and the mechanisms that underlie such inequality.

scholarly journals The framing of 9/11 in American, French, and Dutch national newspapers (2001–2015): An inductive approach to studying events

2020 ◽  
pp. 026858092096682
Author(s):  
Thijs van Dooremalen ◽  
Justus Uitermark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
National Security ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
The United States ◽  
Inductive Approach ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Muslim Immigrants ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Cross National

In this article, the authors employ work on events, framing, and social problems to develop an inductive approach to studying events. The article’s central premise is that tracing direct references made to events offers a fruitful strategy to investigate their framing cross-nationally and over time. The authors apply their approach to the case of 9/11 in American, French, and Dutch national newspapers (2001–2015). By combining word counting, topic modeling, and content analysis they examine the amount of attention given to 9/11, the issues to which it has been linked, and the implications attributed to it. The results indicate that the framing of 9/11 in the above three countries has been stable and uniform regarding foreign issues. There are however enduring, marked cross-national differences with respect to domestic issues. In France, 9/11 has barely been related to such issues; in the United States, the event has been connected principally to national security; and in the Netherlands, it has mainly prompted the problematization of Muslim immigrants. Because 9/11 has been a significant event many years after its occurrence, albeit differently so in each country of study, the findings point to the relevance of studying the framing of events cross-nationally and over extended periods of time.

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