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Author: Wang, Yan
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Wang, Yan
Sibling Structure and Gender Inequality: Assessing Gender Variation in the Effects of Sibling Structure on Housework Performance, Education, and Occupation
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Iowa, May 2013
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Birth Order; Educational Attainment; Gender Differences; Occupational Aspirations; Siblings

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

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of sibling structure on women’s and men’s socialization and achievement outcomes in three areas: housework performance, education, and occupation. Data from China and the United States are used for analyses. The findings indicate that the effect of sibling structure largely depends on the cultural and structural contexts in each society. More specifically, although women and men on average have the same sibling structure, the meaning of sibling configuration is different for women and men because of macro-level factors, such as cultural expectations, gender stereotypes, historical legacy, and political propaganda, and microlevel factors, such as parental preferences, parent-child communication and sibling competition.To examine the effect of sibling structure on each outcome, I conduct three empirical studies.

In the second study, I focus on the effect of sibling structure on educational attainment and the role of siblings’ education in this relationship. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) are used for analyses. I find that the effects of sibship size and sibling sex composition on educational attainment are mediated through siblings’ educational achievements. These effects are divergent for men and women. For women, sibship size and sex composition do not impact their educational attainment after accounting for siblings’ educations. For men, only the number of brothers (but not sisters) has a negative effect on their educational attainment after controlling for siblings’ educational achievements.

In the third study, I investigate the influence of birth order on the prestige and sex type of adolescents’ occupational aspirations using the first wave of the NLSY79. The results indicate that for both females and males, firstborn and lastborn adolescents on average expect higher prestige occupations compared to middleborns, and lastborns are more likely to have nontraditional occupational aspirations than firstborns and middleborns. Taken together, the results suggest that the gender gap in important child and adult behavioral outcomes is smaller among individuals with fewer siblings, fewer brothers, and among lastborn young adults.

Bibliography Citation
Wang, Yan. Sibling Structure and Gender Inequality: Assessing Gender Variation in the Effects of Sibling Structure on Housework Performance, Education, and Occupation. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Iowa, May 2013.