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A new set of research that investigated the main factors behind a child's success in school finds, surprisingly, that the most prominent predictors of academic success are usually in place before the child is even born. According to the study, conduced at the University of York, both inherited DNA and parents' socioeconomic status (level of wealth & education) are the biggest factors when it comes to
how well a child will perform in school.
In fact, socioeconomic status was found to be an even more important element than inherited DNA traits. Only 47% of studied children with a "high genetic propensity" for learning born to poorer families were able to reach college, while 62% of studied children who lacked such education-centered DNA, but were born to wealthy and highly educated parents, ended up enrolling in a university.
Those born with both favorable conditions (educational DNA &
a high status family) had the biggest advantage, with 77% going to college. Meanwhile, children born without such DNA and born to poor families had the
hardest time succeeding academically (only 21% reaching college).
"Genetics and socioeconomic status capture the effects of both nature and nurture, and their influence is particularly dramatic for children at the extreme ends of distribution," explains lead study author Sophie von Stumm, a professor within the University of York Department of Education, in a
release. "However, our study also highlights the potentially protective effect of a privileged background. Having a genetic makeup that makes you more inclined to education does make a child from a disadvantaged background more likely to go to university, but not as likely as a child with a lower genetic propensity from a more advantaged background."
Comment: For shady Russian mobster-types, an Israeli passport can be a very useful thing to have:
WikiLeaks: U.S. worried Israel becoming 'the promised land' for organized crime