From Bat Mitzvah to the Bar: Religious Habitus, Self-Concept, and Women’s Educational Outcomes

Abstract

This study considers the role of religious habitus and self-concept in educational stratification. We follow 3,238 adolescents for 13 years by linking the National Study of Youth and Religion to the National Student Clearinghouse. Survey data reveal that girls with a Jewish upbringing have two distinct postsecondary patterns compared to girls with a non-Jewish upbringing, even after controlling for social origins: (1) they are 23 percentage points more likely to graduate college, and (2) they graduate from much more selective colleges. We then analyze 107 interviews with 33 girls from comparable social origins interviewed repeatedly between adolescence and emerging adulthood. Girls raised by Jewish parents articulate a self-concept marked by ambitious career goals and an eagerness to have new experiences. For these girls, elite higher education and graduate school are central to attaining self-concept congruence. In contrast, girls raised by non-Jewish parents tend to prioritize motherhood and have humbler employment aims. For them, graduating from college, regardless of its prestige, is sufficient for self-concept congruence. We conclude that religious subculture is a key factor in educational stratification, and divergent paths to self-concept congruence can help explain why educational outcomes vary by religion in gendered ways.

Religion and Academic Achievement: A Research Review Spanning Secondary School and Higher Education

“…Given the increasingly diverse landscape of the United States-and the outsized role that religious institutions play for immigrants-it is particularly important to examine whether religion matters for the educational journeys of students who identify as Muslim or Catholic Latinos (Guhin 2019). Accounting for gender differences in different religious traditions in an especially fruitful line of research since religion and gender ideologies are intertwined (Horwitz et al 2019). It is also important for future research to consider variation within religious groups.…”

A Search for Liberalizing Religion: Political Asymmetry in the American Religious Landscape

“…But they are also more progressive, and minoritized religious groups are some of the most liberal in the United States, and past research has demonstrated differing patterns on politicized factors including women's opportunities and, importantly for this study, social attitudes and political ideology among minoritized religious groups (Horwitz et al. 2022; O'Brien and Abdelhadi 2020; Wilde 2018). Such religions—with their more fervent beliefs and greater commitment to absolute truth claims than groups like Unitarian Universalists—could also yield stronger exposure effects.…”

Gender, Sexuality, and Religion: A Critical Integrative Review and Agenda for Future Research

“…For example, Horwitz et al. (2021) found that children, and especially girls, raised in a non‐Orthodox Jewish habitus tend to get more education and attend better schools than other children from a comparable social location.…”

“…Nevertheless, more progressive forms of religious subculture can actually boost women's and to a lesser extent men's career trajectories. For example, Horwitz et al (2021) found that children, and especially girls, raised in a non-Orthodox Jewish habitus tend to get more education and attend better schools than other children from a comparable social location.…”