Educational Attainment by Life Course Sexual Attraction: Prevalence and Correlates in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adults

Abstract

Researchers know relatively little about the educational attainment of sexual minorities, despite the fact that educational attainment is consistently associated with a range of social, economic, and health outcomes. We examined whether sexual attraction in adolescence and early adulthood was associated with educational attainment in early adulthood among a nationally representative sample of US young adults. We analyzed Waves I and IV restricted data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n=14,111). Sexual orientation was assessed using self-reports of romantic attraction in Waves I (adolescence) and IV (adulthood). Multinomial regression models were estimated and all analyses were stratified by gender. Women attracted to the same-sex in adulthood only had lower educational attainment compared to women attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Men attracted to the same-sex in adolescence only had lower educational attainment compared to men attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Adolescent experiences and academic performance attenuated educational disparities among men and women. Adjustment for adolescent experiences also revealed a suppression effect; women attracted to the same-sex in adolescence and adulthood had lower predicted probabilities of having a high school diploma or less compared to women attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Our findings challenge previous research documenting higher educational attainment among sexual minorities in the US. Additional population-based studies documenting the educational attainment of sexual minority adults are needed.

Understanding the educational attainment of sexual minority women and men

“…Thus, in contrast to prior research using data from the general U.S. adult population including older cohorts (Black et al, 2000; Carpenter, 2005) but in greater concordance with Australian and U.S. data from younger cohorts (Carpenter, 2008; Ueno et al, 2013; Walsemann et al, 2014), our cohort-based study following adolescents through early adulthood finds that some groups of self-identified sexual minorities experience substantial disadvantages in educational attainment. These disparities start with experiences, attitudes, and social contexts during primary and secondary school that are likely to compromise the process of future educational attainment (although respondents may or may not have identified as sexual minorities at the time), and they continue at several different critical points in the education system, including high school completion, college enrollment, and college completion.…”

“…Other common operationalizations of sexual minority status include attraction and sexual contact (e.g., Ueno et al, 2013; Walsemann et al, 2014). Relying on measures of same-sex attraction or sexual contact does not capture self-ascribed sexual orientation identities, which may relay different sets of risks and benefits.…”

“…Watson and Russell (2014) focused on differences among same-sex-attracted respondents, finding that those who were more engaged in middle or high school ended up with more years of education. Walsemann and colleagues (2014) found that depending on life course timing, some same-sex-attracted women and men experienced educational attainment disparities compared to their consistently opposite-sex-attracted counterparts. Ueno and colleagues (2013) focused instead on same-sex sexual contact.…”

“…Indeed, some of the literature on sexual minorities and education has identified substantial gender differences (Ueno et al, 2013; Walsemann et al, 2014), even though this is not true for all research (Black et al, 2000; Carpenter, 2005). Other studies have analyzed single-sex samples (Barrett et al, 2002; Carpenter, 2008) or pooled both genders together (Watson & Russell, 2014).…”

“…This responds to Russell's (2005) call for more attention to factors at multiple contextual levels that predict risk and resilience among sexual minorities. New U.S. studies have examined some educational attainment disparities by sexual attraction and same-sex sexual contact (Ueno, Roach, & Peña-Talamantes, 2013; Walsemann, Lindley, Gentile, & Welihindha, 2014; Watson & Russell, 2014), but no study has analyzed sexual orientation/identity disparities.…”