Quantitative Genetic Analyses of Gender Differences in Educational and Occupational Careers

Heredity and environment influences on educational and occupational choice in different cohorts have been investigated by using longitudinal twin data. Sources of variance in gender differences were explored for twins at mid‐life and for elderly twins. For both education and occupation there is a consistent trend indicating increasing genetic variance for females in comparison to males in the younger cohort. A plausible explanation for this is the increased opportunities for individual choice offered to women over a time span of sixty years. An interaction effect is also found for family background and gender, so that gender differences tend to be more pronounced in low socio‐economic status (SES) groups compared to high.