Parents' Occupations Predict Academic Success More Than Education: Study
A new Shoresh Institution study shows parents' occupations predict children's PISA test scores more than twice as effectively as their education level, accounting for 45% of performance gaps.
A recent study by the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research reveals that parents' occupations are more than twice as predictive of children's academic achievement as their level of education. Traditionally, parental education has been viewed as the primary factor explaining student success. However, the new findings challenge this assumption.
Key Findings from PISA Data
Conducted by researcher Ariela Saban alongside economics professors Ayal Kimhi and Dan Ben-David, the study analyzed data from over 10,000 Israeli 15-year-old students who participated in PISA international exams between 2012 and 2022. The researchers examined the correlation between employment and student performance while controlling for parental education and various background characteristics.
"Quality occupations may imply quality education among parents. In addition, they lead to high income, which also plays a significant role," stated Prof. Ayal Kimhi, Vice President of the Shoresh Institution and one of the study's authors.
The research demonstrated that parental occupations account for approximately 45% of the performance gaps among students, compared to only 21% explained by parental education. Within occupational categories, the father's profession accounts for a substantial 33% of the explained gap, while the mother's profession accounts for 12%. Conversely, regarding education, the mother's schooling constitutes about 17% of the explained gap, whereas the father's accounts for a mere 4%.
Impact of Specific Professions
Fathers' occupations were found to correlate with student performance across all three core PISA subjects: reading, mathematics, and science. For mothers, the correlation is most prominent in reading.
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Children of fathers working in academia, science, and research achieved scores 7.3% above the baseline group.
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Children of fathers in technology, information, and software scored 6.8% higher.
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High achievements were also recorded among children whose fathers work in advanced engineering (5%), finance and economics (4.2%), and healthcare (3.7%).
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On the other hand, children of mothers working as early childhood educators scored 4.6% lower than the baseline professional group, while children of teaching assistants scored 2.2% lower.
Kimhi emphasized that children enter the education system from varying starting points, and the system's role is to narrow these gaps as much as possible to ensure genuine equality of opportunity and intergenerational mobility.
