When sociology deals with differences within groups of similar socioeconomic status, research and theorizing tend to focus on the heterogeneity among the socioeconomically advantaged thus representing the socioeconomically disadvantaged as homogeneous. This study is a case of the opposite. For at set of high-stake cultural practices, parental strategies for social reproduction, I find most heterogeneity among socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers. Using data from the NLSY-CYA, I provide novel descriptive statistics of the variance in parenting by maternal education and analyze the determinants of these differences employing a variance function regression. I find an educational gradient in the heterogeneity of cognitively stimulating parenting: the variance is highest among mothers with no high school diploma and shrinks among mothers with more education. That is, mothers with the least amount of education show the most diversity in parenting. This educational gradient is associated with inequality in mothers’ family of origin, cognitive skills, and current economic situation. This result suggests that the systematic differences in heterogeneity stem from (1) selection into education based on family-of-origin characteristics and cognitive skills, where the non-deterministic sorting makes the least educated the most heterogeneous, and (2) the effect of education on mothers’ economic situation, where education decreases uncertainty and thereby makes the most educated the most homogeneous group. Moreover, the study calls for bringing attention to the potential larger heterogeneity in cultural practices among the socioeconomically disadvantaged and provides a theoretical framework for understanding this heterogeneity. This approach challenges stereotypes and deepens sociological understanding of inequality.

中文翻译：

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不平等的隐藏模式：教育群体内部育儿的异质性


当社会学处理具有相似社会经济地位的群体内部的差异时，研究和理论化往往集中在社会经济优势群体之间的异质性上，从而将社会经济弱势群体表示为同质。这项研究是一个相反的案例。因为在一系列高风险的文化实践中，父母的社会再生产策略，我发现社会经济弱势母亲的异质性最强。使用来自 NLSY-CYA 的数据，我提供了母亲教育育儿方差的新颖描述性统计数据，并使用方差函数回归分析了这些差异的决定因素。我在认知刺激养育方式的异质性中发现了教育梯度：没有高中文凭的母亲的差异最大，而受教育程度更高的母亲的差异缩小。也就是说，受教育程度最低的母亲在育儿方面表现出最大的多样性。这种教育梯度与母亲的原生家庭、认知技能和当前经济状况的不平等有关。这一结果表明，异质性的系统性差异源于 （1） 根据原生家庭特征和认知技能选择教育，其中非确定性排序使受教育程度最低的人异质性最强，以及 （2） 教育对母亲经济状况的影响，其中教育减少了不确定性，从而使受教育程度最高的群体成为最同质的群体。此外，该研究呼吁引起人们对社会经济弱势群体在文化实践中可能更大的异质性的关注，并为理解这种异质性提供了一个理论框架。 这种方法挑战了刻板印象，加深了社会学对不平等的理解。