Which Aspects of Education Matter for Early Adult Mortality? Evidence from the High School and Beyond Cohort

Abstract

What dimensions of education matter for people’s chances of surviving young adulthood? Do cognitive skills, noncognitive skills, course-taking patterns, and school social contexts matter for young adult mortality, even net of educational attainment? The authors analyze data from High School and Beyond, a nationally representative cohort of about 25,000 high school students first interviewed in 1980. Many dimensions of education are associated with young adult mortality, and high school students’ math course taking retains its association with mortality net of educational attainment. This work draws on theories and measures from sociological and educational research and enriches public health, economic, and demographic research on educational gradients in mortality that has relied almost exclusively on ideas of human capital accumulation and measures of degree attainment. The findings also call on social and education researchers to engage together in research on the lifelong consequences of educational processes, school structures, and inequalities in opportunities to learn.