PhD thesis

Educational quality and inequality
The interplay between schools, families, and genes

In many countries, the quality and equality of education are under pressure. To understand and reduce educational inequality, it is essential to investigate the relationship between three key elements that shape pupils’ performance: schools, families, and genes. In my dissertation, I study these three elements simultaneously because they may be mistaken for each other otherwise, and may interact in ways that increase or decrease educational inequality. Theory and methods from sociology and behavioral genetics are used to analyze educational performance data of twins enriched with information on the primary school environment. These data are obtained from the Netherlands Twin Register, Dutch registers (CBS) supplemented with data from the Inspectorate of Education, and Danish registers. Results show that differences in educational performance related to family socioeconomic status and genes are smaller in more advantageous school environments. This indicates that schools have the potential to compensate for educational inequality. While the importance of school quality has been highly debated, the classroom environment and socioeconomic composition are more relevant for reducing educational inequality.  

Interested in more? Read the summaries of the empirical chapters, or download the full dissertation. 

Also, I danced my PhD! See here the dance between nature and nurture in shaping educational performance.