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Author: Augustine, Jennifer March
Resulting in 4 citations.
1. Augustine, Jennifer March
Exploring New Life Course Patterns of Mother's Continuing Secondary and College Education
Population Research and Policy Review 35,6 (December 2016): 727-755.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11113-016-9401-5
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); College Degree; Continuing Education; Educational Attainment; Life Course; Motherhood; Mothers, Education

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A mounting body of evidence suggests that the life course sequence that once defined contemporary US women's lives is changing as an increasing number of women now complete their education after the transition to motherhood. Despite such evidence, we know little about this changing pattern of life course events for many US women. The aim of this study, therefore, is to produce population-based estimates that describe the prevalence of mothers' school reentry and secondary and college degree attainment, the timing of women's post-childbearing education vis-a-vis their transition into motherhood, and the characteristics of mothers who pursue additional schooling. To do so, the study draws on data from a nationally representative cohort of US women participating in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (n = 4925) and descriptive and event-history techniques. Findings suggest that a substantial proportion of mothers (17%) completed additional education after the transition to motherhood, especially mothers who had the lowest levels of education at their time of first birth (high school dropouts) (43%). These mothers, who overwhelmingly earned high school degrees/GEDs, were most likely to do so within 5 years of giving birth, while mothers pursuing higher levels were more likely to do so when children were older. Mothers who pursued schooling after the transition to motherhood were remarkably more disadvantaged than women who followed the traditional sequencing of life course events. Compared to women who had the same education upon being mothers, they were also younger, more often poor, and had greater job instability but higher cognitive test scores.
Bibliography Citation
Augustine, Jennifer March. "Exploring New Life Course Patterns of Mother's Continuing Secondary and College Education." Population Research and Policy Review 35,6 (December 2016): 727-755.
2. Augustine, Jennifer March
Increased Educational Attainment among U.S. Mothers and their Children's Academic Expectations
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 52 (December 2017): 15-25.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027656241730029X
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Education, Adult; Educational Aspirations/Expectations; Educational Attainment; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers, Education; Parental Influences

Existing research provides strong evidence that children with more educated parents have higher academic expectations for themselves, but has yet to consider how an increase in the education of lower educated mothers might alter the expectations of their children. In light of the historic increase in U.S. mothers' pursuit of additional education, this study investigates this timely question using data from a nationally representative, intergenerational sample of U.S. children and mothers participating in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (n of mothers = 3,265; n of children = 8,027). Combining random and fixed effects procedures, the findings revealed that that an increase in mothers' educational attainment is linked to an increase in their children's expectations to earn a Bachelor's degree. Increased maternal education did not, however, buffer against the risk that children will downgrade these expectations upon approaching the end of high school. These results have theoretical importance to traditional models of status attainment, which typically view parental education as a stable feature of family background; extend a small but burgeoning literature that explores whether and why increased maternal education improves the mobility prospects of their children; and speak to current two-generation policy approaches that aim to leverage trends in mothers education to reduce inequality for future generations.
Bibliography Citation
Augustine, Jennifer March. "Increased Educational Attainment among U.S. Mothers and their Children's Academic Expectations." Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 52 (December 2017): 15-25.
3. Augustine, Jennifer March
School Reentry and Degree Attainment after the Transition to Motherhood
Presented: Chicago IL, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2015
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Education, Adult; Educational Attainment; Motherhood

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The traditional patterning of life course events that has defined contemporary U.S. women's lives is changing as an increasing number of women now complete their formal schooling after the transition to motherhood. Despite widespread recognition of this demographic change by scholars and policy makers, we lack population-level estimates of women's post-childbearing school reentry or degree attainment, the timing of women's post-childbearing education vis-à-vis women's transition to motherhood, and the characteristics of women who return to school to pursue a degree after giving birth. For the first time, the present study provides such information. To do so it uses cohort data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (n=4,925). Among several key findings, 17% of mothers return to school to earn more education, typically a high school degree or equivalency, Associate's degree, or two years of college. Mothers earning high school degrees/GEDs are most likely to do so within five years of giving birth whereas mothers pursuing other academic paths are more likely to do so when children are older. Consistent predictors of additional maternal education were younger age at first birth, being poor around the time the schooling was completed, greater job instability, and higher cognitive test scores.
Bibliography Citation
Augustine, Jennifer March. "School Reentry and Degree Attainment after the Transition to Motherhood." Presented: Chicago IL, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2015.
4. Augustine, Jennifer March
Negraia, Daniela V.
Can Increased Educational Attainment Among Lower-Educated Mothers Reduce Inequalities in Children's Skill Development?
Demography 55,1 (February 2018): 59-82.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-017-0637-4
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Child Development; Cognitive Ability; Education, Adult; Educational Attainment; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers, Education; Noncognitive Skills; Skills

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A rich tradition of stratification research has established a robust link between mothers' education and the skills in children that forecast children's own mobility. Yet, this research has failed to consider that many U.S. women are now completing their education after having children. Such a trend raises questions about whether increases in mothers' educational attainment can improve their children's skill development and whether these gains are enough to reduce inequalities in skills compared with children whose mothers completed the same degree before they were born. To answer these questions, we draw on a nationally representative sample of mothers and children participating in the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLSY79 and CNLSY), random- and fixed-effects techniques, and repeated measures of children's cognitive and noncognitive skills. Contrary to existing research and theory, our results reveal that educational attainment obtained after children's births is not associated with an improvement in children's skills. Such findings offer substantial refinement to a long-standing model of intergenerational mobility by suggesting that the intergenerational returns to mother's education are weaker when education is acquired after children are born. Results also highlight the limits of two-generation policy approaches to reducing inequality in future generations.
Bibliography Citation
Augustine, Jennifer March and Daniela V. Negraia. "Can Increased Educational Attainment Among Lower-Educated Mothers Reduce Inequalities in Children's Skill Development?" Demography 55,1 (February 2018): 59-82.