California Center for Population Research

Using a multi-group population projection model, I study the implications of educational mobility and differential demographic rates on the intergenerational transmission of women’s educational attainment in South Korea. Departing from the conventional approach in social stratification, I examine how socioeconomically differentiated groups reproduce themselves. The followings are my main findings. First, I find that differential demographic rates do not have a substantial influence on the educational distribution under conditions of substantial educational mobility. Second, both intergenerational association and structural change matter for the educational distribution in the long run: stronger intergenerational association and more structural change imply rising women’s education. Finally, social mobility and differential fertility are found to be interdependent processes that jointly influence differential population replacement. Broad sociological implications and policy implications of these findings are discussed.