College Bound? |

So, I haven’t spoken about Thomas Jefferson High School for Science in a while. Because right now, the case is still being adjudicated. But, the local school board (Fairfax County, VA) has already altered the admissions requirements, lowering the number (and percentage) of Asian American students who matriculate the program. (Yes, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of Black and Hispanic students. But, again, there no longer is an admissions exam and the academic criteria for admission has been altered.)

All that is but a preamble for a new study that has just been reported. The authors, Drs. Ilana Horwitz (Tulane), Kaylee Matheny (Stanford), Krystal Laryea (Stanford), and Landon Schnabel ( Cornell), published the results of their analysis in the American Sociological Review.

They studied some 3238 adolescents with 13 years of data as part of the National Study of Youth and Religion (National Student Clearinghouse; this is a long-term longitudinal study). In a nutshell, they found two distinct post-secondary patterns when comparing Jewish girls with their non-Jewish compatriots. The Jewish girls are 23% more likely to graduate from college- and they also graduate from more selective institutions. These girls have more ambitious career goals (prioritizing professional experiences over motherhood and marriage), along with a desire to garner new experiences.

(Asian Americans, like Jewish Americans, have been considered “model minorities”. However, it is not clear that this increase in achievement is the direct result of race or ethnicity. Instead, it is more likely due to structural, cultural, and socio-psychological factors that shape these folks’ attitudes and achievements.)

The authors felt this study was merited because Jewish folks are among the most highly educated religious groups in the US (Cooperman, Smith, and Ritchey 2015, among others). Nevertheless, the reason behind this statistic is unclear- it’s not simply due to the higher socioeconomic status of Jews nor the Jewish religions inherent cultural bias in favor of education. Why Jews have an educational advantage is not yet clear, but it is not simply a function of high socioeconomic status (Burstein 2007 discussed both of these factors; Goldscheider 2004 only the latter).

Given the fact that Jewish folks were relegated to ghettoes and subject to discrimination- plus the religious duty to study both the oral and written laws may be one of the bigger factors behind this educational bent. Since education was both central to Jewish life and allowed Jewish folks to overcome societal obstacles and prejudices, it’s probable that children become ingrained in the belief that advanced degrees and professional careers are part of what it means to be culturally (if not religiously) Jewish.

(However, the study didn’t really include Orthodox Jewish adolescents. Nor did this longitudinal study have sufficient Hindu or Moslem students to develop any statistical comparisons.)

These Jewish children from this study were raised in communities that were egalitarian (men and women were equal, whether at home or at work or society at large). And, these Jewish students, while not from religious homes, did attend Hebrew school (some went to Jewish Day School), might have attended synagogue on occasion, and some even had joined a Jewish youth group.

There is a potential drawback to this study. The non-Jewish students were often from conservative homes, as opposed to the home life of the Jewish adolescents.

Nevertheless this study did yield surprising results. Boys and girls raised by at least one Jewish parent managed a 73% probability of college graduation; those raised in the Protestant faith managed a 32% probability of college graduation. That’s a 2.3X factor!