Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Soldiers To Scientists: Military Service, Gender, And Stem Degree Earning, Christina Steidl, Regina E. Werum, Sela R. Harcey, Jacob Absalon, Alice Millermacphee

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The authors use 2014–2018 data from the American Community Survey to answer two questions: To what extent is military service associated with higher rates of earning a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field (vs. a non-STEM field)? To what extent is this relationship gendered? The findings suggest that military service is associated with higher odds of completing a STEM degree and that this association is particularly strong for female veterans. Comparison across multiple STEM definitions suggests that military service does not simply channel women into traditionally female-dominated STEM fields. Instead, the findings show the biggest …

Soldiers To Scientists: Military Service, Gender, And Stem Degree Earning, Christina Steidl, Regina E. Werum, Sela R. Harcey, Jacob Absalon, Alice Millermacphee

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The authors use 2014–2018 data from the American Community Survey to answer two questions: To what extent is military service associated with higher rates of earning a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field (vs. a non-STEM field)? To what extent is this relationship gendered? The findings suggest that military service is associated with higher odds of completing a STEM degree and that this association is particularly strong for female veterans. Comparison across multiple STEM definitions suggests that military service does not simply channel women into traditionally female-dominated STEM fields. Instead, the findings show the biggest …

Why Does The Importance Of Education For Health Differ Across The United States?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jennifer Karas Montez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement …

Cognition And Context: Rural–Urban Differences In Cognitive Aging Among Older Mexican Adults, Joseph L. Saenz, Brian Downer, Marc A. Garcia, Rebeca Wong

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objective—To describe differences in cognitive functioning across rural and urban areas among older Mexican adults.

Method—We include respondents aged 50+ in the 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Cognitive functioning by domain is regressed as a function of community size. The role of educational attainment in explaining rural/urban differences in cognitive functioning is examined.

Results—Respondents residing in more rural areas performed worse across five cognitive domains. The majority, but not all, of the association between community size and cognitive functioning was explained by lower education in rural areas.

Discussion—Respondents residing in more rural areas were disadvantaged in terms of …

The Role Of Education In The Relationship Between Age Of Migration To The United States And Risk Of Cognitive Impairment Among Older Mexican Americans, Brian Downer, Marc A. Garcia, Joseph Saenz, Kyriakos S. Markides, Rebeca Wong

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Prior research indicates age of migration is associated with cognitive health outcomes among older Mexican Americans; however, factors that explain this relationship are unclear. This study used eight waves from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to examine the role of education in the risk for cognitive impairment (CI) by nativity, age of migration, and gender. Foreign-born women had a higher risk for CI than U.S.-born women, regardless of age of migration. After adjusting for education, this risk remained significant only for late-life migrant women (risk ratio [RR] = 1.28). Foreign-born men who migrated at …

Does Higher Education Cause Religious Decline? A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Within- And Between-Person Effects Of Higher Education On Religiosity, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although there is ample empirical evidence of the associations between higher education and various aspects of religiosity, the causal mechanisms producing these associations remain unclear. I use four waves of longitudinal data, with respondents ranging in age from 13 to 29, to model the within- and between-person effects of higher education on several measures of religiosity. The results show that earning a bachelor’s degree is associated with within-person declines in some but not all measured aspects of religiosity, which partially supports the argument that higher education causes religious decline. The results also suggest that those predisposed to attending religious services …

Social Class And Finding A Congregation: How Attendees Are Introduced To Their Congregations, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Despite the large numbers of Americans switching religious congregations each year, social scientists know relatively little about how people are introduced to new religious congregations. In this research note, I use multiple surveys of congregants—two surveys of Presbyterians in the 1990s and a survey of attendees from a random sample of congregations in 2001—to examine the effects of education and income on how attendees are introduced to their religious congregations. Results show that education and income are key predictors of how attendees find their congregations. In general, Americans with low levels of education and income are disproportionately likely to be …

Leadership And Nonverbal Behaviors Of Hispanic Females Across School Equity Environments, Helen A. Moore, Natalie K. Porter

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Nonverbal behaviors of Hispanic elementary school students and their peers were examined in a small-group cooperative task with a total of 202 subjects. Thirty-five randomly selected groups were videotaped in ten desegregated schools, each group was gender-homogeneous, with three Hispanic and three Anglo students. Analysis of the videotapes revealed that Hispanic females used less vertical and horizontal space than Anglo females, and were also less likely to verbally interrupt or physically intrude on other group members They had similar rates of handling the group resource cards and were given similar leadership scores by multi-ethnic trained observers. Among males, Hispanics are …

Hispanic Women: Schooling For Conformity In Public Education, Helen A. Moore

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The educational experiences of Latinas are tied to norms of an Anglocentric and androcentric school system. Based on a sample of 1,000 male and female Hispanic and Anglo elementary school students, we analyze teacher expectations for three dimensions: behavioral, social and academic achievements. Teachers do rate Hispanic females as more conforming to the behavioral norms of the school. Regression analyses indicate that higher teacher ratings are assigned to Hispanic females who combine high academic scores with low scores on behavioral conformity norms. These findings indicate that teachers reward assertiveness, leadership and action when considering future student success. The dilemmas of …