Polygenic Indices and Pathways to Educational Attainment and Early Career Outcomes

Authors: Evelina T. Akimova, Wesley J. Wang, Robin Stryker

Affiliation: Department of Sociology, Purdue University

This manuscript asks whether the educational attainment polygenic index (EA-PGI) should be understood as a direct source of stratification or as an ascriptive input whose effects are largely filtered through the social and social psychological mechanisms identified in classic status-attainment models.

Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and a structural equation modeling framework based on Stryker (1981), the study traces EA-PGI pathways to two outcomes: years of education completed and first-job socioeconomic status. The analysis incorporates mediators including high school IQ, class rank, parental and teacher encouragement, peers’ college plans, attitudes toward college, educational plans, and occupational aspirations, alongside family background measures.

The results indicate that the large majority of the EA-PGI association with educational attainment is indirect rather than direct. Family background and mediating variables together account for most of the observed relationship, with significant others, aspirations, and school rank playing a larger role than cognitive ability alone. For early career occupational status, the attenuation is smaller, suggesting a more heterogeneous set of pathways from genetic correlates to first-job outcomes.

Recommended citation: Akimova, E. T., Wang, W. J., & Stryker, R. (2026). Polygenic indices and pathways to educational attainment and early career outcomes. Working manuscript.