Does the Gender Composition of Sibships Affect Women's Educational Attainment?

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the November 1989 Current Population Survey, and the National Longitudinal Study of Women suggest that women with sisters may have completed less schooling than women without sisters. This hypothesis follows a long tradition of theories about the effects of sibling number and configuration. There is relatively weak evidence for this hypothesis in the analysis on which the findings are based. Analyses of the effects of sibling gender composition on educational attainment among cohorts of women in the Occupational Changes in a Generation Survey, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and the National Survey of Families and Households offer no support for this hypothesis or for other related hypotheses about the effects of the gender composition of sibships.