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69 Soc. F. 181 (1990-1991)
Beyond Sibship Size: Sibling Density, Sex Composition, and Educational Outcomes

handle is hein.journals/josf69 and id is 199 raw text is: Beyond Sibship Size: Sibling Density, Sex Composition, and Educational Outcomes* BRIAN POWELL, Indiana University LALA CARR STEELMAN, University of South Carolina Abstract We explore the effects of sibship density, i.e., the number of siblings closely spaced versus widely spaced, and sex composition, i.e., the number of sisters versus the number of brothers. Guided by two explanations previously put forth to account for the consistently found inverse relationship between sibship size and academic outcomes, the confluence model and the resource dilution hypothesis, we test whether these two structural parameters influence academic consequences. Analysis of the High School and Beyond data confirms a stronger negative effect of the number of siblings closely spaced than of the number of siblings widely spaced, an effect that endures into later adolescence even upon controlling for earlier test performance. Findings on sex composition, based on the National Longitudinal Survey of High School Seniors of the Class of 1972, are mixed. We find no effect of sex composition on test performance, but find a negative one on grade-point average. We conclude by highlighting the utility of decomposing sibship size into further components and of obtaining data that will facilitate such research efforts. Although the antecedents of fertility behavior have sustained long-standing interest among social demographers, research priorities have widened recently to encompass the consequences of differential fertility (Blake 1981). It is not only the question of which factors affect the number and timing of the children people have that intrigues social scientists but also the aftermath of varying sibship structures. The firmly documented inverse relationship between the number of siblings and academic achievement, for example, has elicited considerable attention not only from demographers but also from sociologists with interests in education, social psychologists, status-attainment researchers, medical academicians, educators, and the public at large. While sociologists investigating educational processes view the determinants of ability and/or *This research was supported by NSF Grant SES-8508301 to Steelnan and a Spencer Fellowship to Powell. The authors' names are listed in alphabetical order. Their contributions are equal. We appreciate assistance from Ann Smith, Debra Brown, Donna Eder, Susan Engel, Carl Ek, and Christie Spruill. Comments from two anonymous reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged. Please direct all correspondence to Lala Carr Steelman, Department of Sociology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208. Social Forces, September 1990, 69(1):181-206 © The University of North Carolina Press

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