The genetics of university success

Smith‐Woolley, Emily; Ayorech, Ziada; Dale, Philip S.; Stumm, Sophie von; Plomin, Robert

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-32621-w

Cited by 41 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The role of parental EA in their offspring EA seems to exceed what can be expected on the basis of the inherited genes. This is in line with findings from the UK, in which the common environment substantially influences educational choice (Rimfeld et al 2016;Smith-Woolley et al 2018). Next, due to tracking in the Netherlands, the children's secondary school environment varies more that their primary school environment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Intergenerational Transmission of Education and ADHD: Effects of Parental Genotypes

et al. 2020

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It remains a challenge to determine whether children resemble their parents due to nature, nurture, or a mixture of both. Here we used a design that exploits the distinction between transmitted and non-transmitted alleles in genetic transmission from parent to offspring. Two separate polygenic scores (PGS) were calculated on the basis of the transmitted and non-transmitted alleles. The effect of the non-transmitted PGS is necessarily mediated by parental phenotypes, insofar as they contribute to the rearing environment of the offspring (genetic nurturing). We calculated transmitted and non-transmitted PGSs associated with adult educational attainment (EA) and PGSs associated with childhood ADHD in a general population sample of trios, i.e. child or adult offspring and their parents (N = 1120-2518). We tested if the EA and ADHD (non-)transmitted PGSs were associated with childhood academic achievement and ADHD in offspring. Based on the earlier findings for shared environment, we hypothesized to find genetic nurturing for academic achievement, but not for ADHD. In adults, both transmitted (R 2 = 7.6%) and non-transmitted (R 2 = 1.7%) EA PGSs were associated with offspring EA, evidencing genetic nurturing. In children around age 12, academic achievement was associated with the transmitted EA PGSs (R 2 = 5.7%), but we found no support for genetic nurturing (R 2 ~ 0.1%). The ADHD PGSs were not significantly associated with academic achievement (R 2 ~ 0.6%). ADHD symptoms in children were only associated with transmitted EA PGSs and ADHD PGSs (R 2 = 1-2%). Based on these results, we conclude that the associations between parent characteristics and offspring outcomes in childhood are mainly to be attributable to the effects of genes that are shared by parents and children.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Intergenerational Transmission of Education and ADHD: Effects of Parental Genotypes

et al. 2020

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“…There are other noteworthy parallels between the present results and those obtained from twin studies. Of the educational characteristics we explored, enrollment in advanced education exhibited a comparatively large role for the shared environment, as did a recent U.K. study using the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) sample to evaluate multiple educational characteristics (Smith-Woolley, Ayorech, Dale, von Stumm, & Plomin, 2018). A previous study on TEDS participants (Shakeshaft et al, 2013) analyzed performance on a set of exams comparable to the Danish exit exams analyzed here, finding a level of similarity among dizygotic twins that was similar to though slightly larger than the sibling similarity coefficients reported here.…”

Section: Generalizability Of Adoptee Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does parental education influence child educational outcomes? A developmental analysis in a full-population sample and adoptee design.

Ludeke¹,

Gensowski²,

Junge³

et al. 2021

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Children's educational outcomes are strongly correlated with their parents' educational attainment. This finding is often attributed to the family environment-assuming, for instance, that parents' behavior and resources affect their children's educational outcomes. However, such inferences of a causal role of the family environment depend on the largely untested assumption that such relationships do not simply reflect genes shared between parent and child. We examine this assumption with an adoptee design in full-population cohorts from Danish administrative data. We test whether parental education predicts children's educational outcomes in both biological and adopted children, looking at four components of the child's educational development: (I) the child's conscientiousness during compulsory schooling, (II) academic performance in those same years, (III) enrollment in academically challenging high schools, and (IV) graduation success. Parental education was a substantial predictor of each of these child outcomes in the full population. However, little intergenerational correlation in education was observed in the absence of genetic similarity between parent and child-that is, among adoptees. Further analysis showed that what links adoptive parents' education did have with later-occurring components such as educational attainment (IV) and enrollment (III) appeared to be largely attributable to effects identifiable earlier in development, namely early academic performance (II). The primary nongenetic mechanisms by which education is transmitted across generations may thus have their effects on children early in their educational development, even as the consequences of those early effects persist throughout the child's educational development.

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“…Similarly, genetic factors were found to account for variation in several measures of educational attainment, including the choice of enrolling in an undergraduate degree and university success (Smith-Woolley, Ayorech, Dale, von Stumm, & Plomin, 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

Malanchini

Rimfeld

Allegrini

et al. 2020

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Cognitive ability and educational success predict positive outcomes across the lifespan, from higher earnings to better health and longevity. The shared positive outcomes associated with cognitive ability and education are emblematic of the strong interconnections between them. Part of the observed associations between cognitive ability and education, as well as their links with wealth, morbidity and mortality, are rooted in genetic variation.The current review evaluates the contribution of decades of behavioural genetic research to our knowledge and understanding of the biological and environmental basis of the association between cognitive ability and education. The evidence reviewed points to a strong genetic basis in their association, observed from middle childhood to old age, which is amplified by environmental experiences. In addition, the strong stability and heritability of educational success are not driven entirely by cognitive ability. This highlights the contribution of other educationally relevant noncognitive characteristics. Considering both cognitive and noncognitive skills as well as their biological and environmental underpinnings will be fundamental in moving towards a comprehensive, evidence-based model of education.

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The genetics of university success

Cited by 41 publications

References 42 publications

Intergenerational Transmission of Education and ADHD: Effects of Parental Genotypes

Intergenerational Transmission of Education and ADHD: Effects of Parental Genotypes

Does parental education influence child educational outcomes? A developmental analysis in a full-population sample and adoptee design.

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

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