The impact of birth order, sib-size and siblings’ sex composition on educational attainment in the Maldives

Yıl 2021, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2, 87 - 100, 01.07.2021

Aishath Shafina

Öz

The study investigates the effects of sibship size, birth order and sibling sex composition on
educational attainment at higher education. While there are several studies on access and success of
higher education focused on socioeconomic status and academic ability of the individuals, this study
investigates family composition to explain the advantages and disadvantages in representation at
higher education levels. The study specifically explores the structure of the family in terms of birth
order, number of siblings and sex of siblings. The findings in this study indicates that lesser the
number of members in the family, higher the representation in higher education for males and
females. Furthermore, the study also gives evidence that higher the birth-order, lower the
participation in higher education for males and females. It is also determined that the number of
female siblings in the family does not impact participation in higher education for females and
males. However, higher the number of male siblings in the family, lower the participation in higher
education for males and females. The study contributes significantly to the understanding of the
effects of sibship and its relevance to higher education conceptually, and its findings have
implications for planning and policy interventions.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Family, higher education, gender

The impact of birth order, sib-size and siblings’ sex composition on educational attainment in the Maldives

Öz

Kaynakça

• Al-Khayat, M. M., & AL-Adwan, F. E. (2016). The effect of birth order on personality traits and academic performance at sample of families in Jordan. Eur J Soc Sci, 151-161