The Role of Higher Education in Intergenerational Mobility: An Exploration Using Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling

Amanda Simpfenderfer ()
Additional contact information
Amanda Simpfenderfer: William & Mary

Research in Higher Education, 2024, vol. 65, issue 3, No 1, 379-416

Abstract: Abstract Traditional research on the role of higher education in intergenerational mobility scrapes the surface of how complex institutional environments contribute to improved socioeconomic outcomes for students. Drawing from economics, sociology, and higher education research, this study interrogates the complexities of the relationship between students and institutions to understand what factors influence an institution’s ability to facilitate upward socioeconomic mobility. Drawing data from Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Baccalaureate and Beyond 08/12, and Opportunity Insights data, multi-level structural equation modeling was employed to examine how institutional quality, mediated by peer environment and compositional racial diversity of faculty and staff, explain differences in institutional intergenerational mobility rates across institutions. The findings reveal that higher levels of institutional quality and peer environment were associated with lower levels of intergenerational mobility. In contrast, institutions with higher percentages of faculty and staff of color had higher intergenerational mobility rates. These findings demonstrate the importance of examining institutional factors in relation to intergenerational mobility.

Keywords: Intergenerational mobility; Student outcomes; Socioeconomic status; Higher education access (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11162-023-09753-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:reihed:v:65:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s11162-023-09753-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/11162

DOI: 10.1007/s11162-023-09753-8

Access Statistics for this article

Research in Higher Education is currently edited by Robert K. Toutkoushian

More articles in Research in Higher Education from Springer, Association for Institutional Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().