The Contributions of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills to Educational and Economic Outcomes
White paper prepared for the NORC/Spencer Foundation conference, "Advancing the Understanding between Education and Labor Market Outcomes" Chicago, IL October 2006
Over the last forty years, a great deal of social science research has tried to understand the nature and sources of social inequality. Sociologists and economists have focused on the ways cognitive skills, parental background and schooling differentially contribute to social and economic inequality, especially for disadvantaged groups. This is relevant for understanding why some young people successfully transition to adulthood and actualize returns on their educational investments in the labor market-and others do not...
