Mature Women cohort
Data on the educational status and attainment of respondents were collected at select survey points as part of the broader collection of information on respondents' training investments. An overview of education-specific variables both for the respondent and for family members not residing in her household is presented below by topic. Information about the educational status and attainment of family members residing in the respondent's household is also available; see the Household Composition section for more information.
Educational attainment
Highest Grade Completed
Highest grade completed variables are available for the entire cohort in several years. In 1967, a 'Highest Grade Completed' variable (R00790.00) was created from a series of questions eliciting information on the highest grade of regular school the respondent had attended, whether that grade had been completed, and whether additional coursework in which the respondent had been enrolled after full-time school ended had resulted in a diploma. In the 1977 (R03815.00) and 1989 (R09897.00) surveys, respondents directly reported their attainment level. In each survey since 1979, all respondents reporting school enrollment since the last interview have been asked to state the highest grade they have completed. These variables are "update" variables and are available for less than the full universe of respondents. For the 1979-92 surveys, researchers needing data on educational attainment for a more complete universe of respondents than those to whom the update questions are administered should locate the last summary variable available and use the update information to supplement that variable. Beginning in 1995, a created variable, 'Highest Grade Completed, xx (Revised),' provides the highest grade completed for all interviewed respondents.
High School Enrollment and Date of Diploma
The 1977 survey elicited information about high school enrollment dates and the date the high school diploma was received. The 1981 survey asked respondents whether they had ever attended high school, if they had received a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED), which type of diploma they had received, and when.
College Enrollment and College Degree
The 1977 survey asked whether respondents had ever attended college. For those reporting college enrollment, information was collected on the highest degree ever received and the date the degree was received. Each subsequent survey except 1992 asked whether the respondent attended college since the last interview. Respondents reporting college enrollment stated the number of weeks and hours per week in attendance, whether a college degree was received, and the type of degree received. The 1986 questionnaire also included two questions on educational expenses incurred by the respondent or her husband in the past 12 months.
High school and college curricula
High school
Respondents have provided retrospective information about their high school curricula during three interviews. The 1967 survey collected information on the type of vocational or commercial curriculum taken in high school. In 1972, the survey asked respondents how well they had done in their English courses in high school. Finally, the 1981 survey included a series of questions on whether the respondent had been enrolled in high school mathematics courses, the type of course (e.g., algebra, geometry, trigonometry), the length of time the course lasted, and how well the respondent had done in these courses.
College
Information about major field of study in college was gathered at numerous survey points. The 1977 survey asked all respondents who had ever been enrolled in college about their field of study. This information was updated in each subsequent survey except 1992 for all respondents reporting college enrollment since their last interview.
Location of schools
The only location information available for this cohort is a 1971 variable providing the state of the last high school attended.
| Related Variables | The 1977 survey obtained enrollment information and highest grade attended/completed for all natural and adopted children of the respondent as well as any additional children of her husband's from another relationship. In addition, information on the highest grade attended/completed of the respondent's four eldest living children was collected during the 1986 survey. The 1982, 1984, and 1987-97 interviews asked the respondent if any of her children had attended college in the past 12 months. All of these interviews except 1984 followed up by asking how much she and her husband had contributed toward college expenses each year. |
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| Survey Instruments & Documentation | The variables described above can be found in the "Education and Training" sections of the 1967, 1977, and 1982-2003 questionnaires and the "Education Expenses" section of the 1986 instrument. The question on the location of the high school is located in the "Family Background" section of the 1971 questionnaire. The 1977 series of questions about the children is located in the "Marital History, Fertility & Other Family Background" section of the questionnaire. Appendices of the Codebook Supplement present the fields of study classification systems and Census division/state codes. |
Young Women cohort
Schooling and the school-to-work transition process were a primary focus of the Young Women's surveys. Therefore, data were regularly collected on respondents' enrollment in school and their educational attainment. This section summarizes some of the more commonly used educational status and attainment variables by topic. Descriptions of the separately administered School Survey and the constructed college survey variables are presented in the High School Survey & College Information section.
Current school enrollment status
Enrollment Status - Is R Currently Enrolled?
Respondents were asked whether or not they were attending or enrolled in regular school at the time of the interview during each survey year.
Grade Attending
For those attending regular school, each survey asked about the specific grade within elementary/high school or the year of college they were attending.
Full- versus Part-time Enrollment
In all surveys except 1980, 1982, and 1983, respondents enrolled in school were asked whether they were enrolled as full-time or part-time students.
Educational attainment
Highest Grade Completed
Respondents indicated the highest grade completed during the initial survey year and every survey year thereafter. A series of created attainment variables provides longitudinally consistent measures of each respondent's reported educational attainment record. These summary variables, the titles of which contain the term "REVISED," are available for 1969-2003. Non-revised 'Highest Grade Completed' variables collected during 1975, 1977, and 1978 provide information for a select universe, namely those not enrolled in school since the last interview/as of the current interview. For post-1978 attainment variables, the universe is those respondents attending regular school since the last interview.
Date of Diploma
The 1983 survey collected information from each respondent on whether or not she had obtained a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) and, if so, which type and the month/year it was received. Similar information (exclusive of dates) was collected during the 1985-2003 interviews from those respondents who had attended school since the last interview. The 1978 interview gathered information from respondents not enrolled in high school or college on the month/year a diploma was received.
College Enrollment Status
The 'Grade Attending' variables discussed above provide college enrollment status information for each survey year. In addition, the 1968 questionnaire collected information on date started/stopped most recent college enrollment; the 1973 survey asked respondents who were not working a retrospective question on whether or not they had been attending college in February 1968.
Type of College Degree
Respondents who had ever attended college as of the initial survey year were asked for information on the type (if any) of college degree received (associate, bachelor's, master's, doctorate). During all subsequent interviews except 1978, this information was updated for those who had received a degree since the last interview. The 1978 survey collected information from those respondents who had more than one year of college on the type of highest college degree received.
High school and college experiences
During 1968, a special set of questions gathered information from the respondent on her high school and college experiences. Specifically, the high school series asked:
- which high school subjects the respondent liked most/least and the reasons
- number of hours per week she spent on homework, where she studied, and if there were distractions to her homework efforts
- whether or not she participated in extracurricular activities, the number of hours per week, and her favorite activity (e.g., sports, music, dramatics, other clubs, etc.)
- the kinds of non-school-related activities that took up most of her time (e.g., sports, working for pay, a hobby, etc.)
- the respondent's general attitude toward her high school years
The college experience series collected information on: (1) how respondents felt about their college experience; (2) the field of study they liked most/least and the reasons; and (3) for those respondents currently enrolled who would like more education, how many years of education they would like to complete, how much education they thought they would actually get, what college they would like to attend, and what field they would like to study. Information collected on the names and locations of up to four colleges was used in the construction of the college survey variables; see the High School Survey & College Information section for details.
High school and college curricula
Type of High School Curriculum
Type of high school curriculum, (i.e., vocational, commercial, college preparatory, or general) was collected in 1968 from all respondents who had ever attended high school. These data were updated during the 1969-73 surveys for respondents enrolled in high school during those years. A 1970 created variable, 'Curriculum in Most Recent High School,' edited information on each respondent's current enrollment status, grade attending, and high school curriculum collected during the 1968, 1969, and 1970 surveys. During the 1968 survey, those respondents who had attended high school were asked whether they had taken typing or shorthand and, if so, which one(s) and the number of years the course(s) had been taken. The 1983 interview included a series of questions on whether the respondent had been enrolled in various types of mathematics courses (e.g., algebra, geometry, trigonometry/calculus), the number of years such courses were taken, and how well she had done in these courses.
College Field of Study
Information on the field of concentration or discipline was collected in 1968 from those respondents who had ever attended college. These data were updated during subsequent surveys for those respondents who had received a degree since the last interview. The 1978 interview collected field of study information for (1) those currently attending college; (2) those who were not attending college but who at some point had done so although no degree had been received; and (3) those who had obtained a college degree. The classification system(s) utilized through 1975 included disciplines such as humanities, education, mathematics, social science, science, business/commerce, and home economics. The post-1975 categories were expanded to include business and management, fine and applied arts, health professions, and public affairs and services, as well as specific disciplines leading to an associate degree (data processing technologies, public service related technologies, health services and paramedical technologies, etc.).
College tuition and financial aid
Full-time annual tuition amounts were collected during 1968 for the most recent college attended and during 1969-73 and 1978 for the college the respondent was attending that year. Information on whether the respondent received financial aid and the amount received was collected during 1968-78. Types of financial aid received (scholarship, fellowship, assistantship, loan, etc.) were collected during all except the initial survey year.
Type and location of schools
Is School Public?
Information on whether the schools attended by the respondent were public or private was gathered during the 1968-73 and 1978 surveys.
Census Division of Last High School Attended
The Census division (New England, Pacific, Mountain, etc.) of the last high school attended by the respondent as of the 1968 interview is available for most respondents. The User Notes below contain a cautionary note on the address information used to construct these variables.
Comparison of School Locations with Location of Current Residence
A set of variables created by Census compares the location of the respondent's school (high school, college) with her current residence for the 1968-71 survey years. Coding categories include: same SMSA or county; different SMSA or county, same state; different state, same division; different division; and abroad. A second set of variables (e.g., 'Comparison of Location of High School and Most Recent College') compares the location of schools attended as of 1968, 1977, and 1978. The User Notes below contain a cautionary note on the address information used to construct these variables.
Presence & Type of Accredited Two- & Four-Year Colleges in Labor Market of Current Residence
Variables created by the Census Bureau for the 1968, 1969, and 1970 survey years provide information on the types of colleges (e.g., only two-year colleges, only four-year colleges, both two- and four-year colleges) that existed within the respondent's labor market. A second set of variables, available for the 1968 survey only, provides descriptive information on local area colleges, e.g., the colleges present within the labor market that were, for example, coeducational, both public and private colleges, or women-only colleges. The User Notes below contain a cautionary note on the address information used to construct these variables.
| Related Variables | In the 1991-97 and 2003 Young Women surveys, the respondents were asked for information concerning any of their children who attended college in the past calendar year. These surveys also recorded the amount of support the respondent contributed to these college expenses. |
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| Survey Instruments & Documentation | The sets of variables described above are found in a variety of questionnaire sections including: the "Education and Training," "High School Experiences," "College Experiences," and "Educational Goals" sections of the 1968 questionnaire; the "Educational Status" or "Education and Training" sections of subsequent instruments; and the "Family Background" section of the 1973 questionnaire. Appendices in the Codebook Supplement present the fields of study classification systems and Census division/state codes. |
Important information: Education variables
- During the initial survey years, the presence of the edited 'Highest Grade Completed' variables made the construction of an attainment variable unnecessary. The 'Highest Grade Completed' variables were the result of extensive hand-edits; they are, in some ways, a best guess made by examining the complete longitudinal record of each respondent. After the mid-70s, a series of questions was asked during each interview about whether the respondent was currently attending or had attended regular school since the last interview. If the respondent replied in the affirmative, information was gathered on the grade attending and/or completed. These variables are used to create the 'Highest Grade Completed (Revised)' series.
- In the early years, variables that depend upon address information were created by the Census Bureau in an inconsistent manner. The majority of geographic variables were revised in the mid-1970s to correct for known discrepancies in permanent versus temporary address data, especially for respondents attending college. However, certain variables, including the 'Comparison of School Locations with Location of Current Residence' and 'Presence and Type of Accredited Two- and Four-Year Colleges in Labor Market of Current Residence,' were not updated. A more complete discussion can be found in the User Notes in the Geographic Residence & Environmental Characteristics section.