Thursday, January 9, 2014

East Asian populations (Japanese, Chinese) have the highest average frequency of alleles associated with higher educational attainment (39%), followed by Europeans (35.5%) and sub-Saharan Africans (16.4%)

The national ranking for scores on standardized tests of educational attainment closely mirrors the gradient observed in frequencies of genes associated with this construct. East Asians have the highest frequencies of alleles beneficial to educational attainment (39%) and consistently outperform other racial groups both within the United States and around the world, in terms of educational variables such as completion of college degree or results on standardized tests of scholastic achievement. Europeans have slightly lower frequencies of educational attainment alleles (35.5%) and perform slightly worse in terms of educational attainment, compared to East Asians. On the other hand, Africans seem to be disadvantaged both with regards to their level of educational attainment in the United States and around the world. Indeed, Africans have the lowest frequencies of alleles associated with educational attainment (16%).

No comments: