Search Results

Author: Haskell, Devon
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Haskell, Devon
Essays on Sports Participation, Development, and Educational Outcomes
Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Chicago, 2012
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Athletics (see SPORTS); Body Mass Index (BMI); Education; Educational Attainment; Height; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth); National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG); Racial Differences; Sports (also see ATHLETICS); Weight

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

This thesis is a compilation of three papers that study how various factors influence educational outcomes. The first paper, "The Benefits of Athletic Participation: Heterogeneous Effects on Academic and Labor Market Outcomes," focuses on sports participation in schools. It shows that athletic participants have higher GPAs, increased high school graduation rates, greater schooling attainment beyond high school, and higher wages compared to non-participants. In addition the gains from participation are concentrated in underachieving populations participating in team sports. This paper argues that improved outcomes arise from institutional performance incentives and the development of human capital.

The second paper, "The Influence of Height on Academic Outcomes," explores the relationship between height and educational achievement. Taller students earn higher grades, are more likely to graduate from high school, and attain more years of schooling. However, this height effect varies across school size: height has a stronger correlation with outcomes for students from bigger schools. These results imply that intelligence alone does not drive the association between height and outcomes. Differential access to activities such as school sports plays a role in driving these results.

Finally, the third paper, "The Effect of Menarche on Education: Explaining Black-White Differences," looks at the relationship between developmental timing in girls and their educational outcomes. A girl's developmental timing, marked by age at menarche, is strongly correlated with educational attainment. However, the direction of this correlation varies by race. Among the white population, delayed menarche is associated with improved educational outcomes while among the black population, it is associated with worse outcomes. Different responses to pregnancy driven by variance in marriage market quality across race can explain part of this relationship. Absent pregnancy, differing marriage patterns across race may also contribute to the trends between menarche and achievement. Evidence suggests that endogenous factors such as health, which influence both development and outcomes, can not explain the varying relationship between age at menarche and education across race.

Bibliography Citation
Haskell, Devon. Essays on Sports Participation, Development, and Educational Outcomes. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Chicago, 2012.