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Author: Karlson, Kristian
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Jaeger, Mads Meier
Karlson, Kristian
Cultural Capital and Educational Inequality: A Counterfactual Analysis
Sociological Science published online (12 December 2018): DOI: 10.15195/v5.a33.
Also: https://sociologicalscience.com/articles-v5-33-775/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Sociological Science
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Mobility; Parental Influences; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We use National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) data and a counterfactual approach to test the macro-level implications of cultural reproduction and cultural mobility theory. Our counterfactual analyses show that the observed socioeconomic gradient in children's educational attainment in the NLSY79 data would be smaller if cultural capital was more equally distributed between children whose parents are of low socioeconomic status (SES) and those whose parents are of high SES. They also show that hypothetically increasing cultural capital among low-SES parents would lead to a larger reduction in the socioeconomic gradient in educational attainment than reducing it among high-SES parents. These findings are consistent with cultural mobility theory (which argues that low-SES children have a higher return to cultural capital than high-SES children) but not with cultural reproduction theory (which argues that low-SES children have a lower return to cultural capital). Our analysis contributes to existing research by demonstrating that the unequal distribution of cultural capital shapes educational inequality at the macro level.
Bibliography Citation
Jaeger, Mads Meier and Kristian Karlson. "Cultural Capital and Educational Inequality: A Counterfactual Analysis." Sociological Science published online (12 December 2018): DOI: 10.15195/v5.a33.
2. Karlson, Kristian
Family Background Consistently Affects Economic Success Across the Life Cycle
British Journal of Sociology published online (28 January 2024).
Also: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13081
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Brothers; Career Attainment; Career Patterns; Earnings; Economic Success; Family Background and Culture; Family Characteristics; Income; Life Course; Mobility, Social; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Scholars of social mobility increasingly study the role of family background in shaping attainment throughout the entire life course. However, research has yet to establish whether the family characteristics influencing early career attainment are the same as those influencing late career attainment. In this research note, I apply an extended sibling correlation approach to analyze brothers’ life cycle earnings and family income, using data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. My analysis reveals a near-perfect correlation in the family characteristics that affect attainment at early, mid, and late career stages. This finding has significant implications for how mobility scholars conceptualize the impact of family background across a career. It suggests that family background forms a single, consistent dimension in determining attainment throughout the life course. Further analysis also indicates that the imperfect relationship between current and lifetime income is exclusively driven by within-family processes.
Bibliography Citation
Karlson, Kristian. "Family Background Consistently Affects Economic Success Across the Life Cycle." British Journal of Sociology published online (28 January 2024).