The mechanisms underlying the association between genes and educational attainment

Educational attainment is a complex social outcome that is associated with factors such as class, poverty, and cultural capital, to name a few. Recent developments in human genotyping present a new scientific frontier and call for an integration of genetic data into social sciences. So far, researchers have focused on identifying specific loci in the genome that might be associated with educational attainment. However, the relationship between the genotype (genetic endowment) and the phenotype (a number of years of schooling) is not straightforward or directly causal. In my research I would like to explore both biological and social mechanisms underlying the association between genes and educational attainment. Although critics tend to question the relevance of such research, I strongly believe in its importance and promise. First, such research will not find the
'educational' gene that can predict educational attainment for each person but associated genetic variants might explain average tendencies in a population and help to target problems, such as dyslexia, at an earlier age (De Neve et al., 2012). Second, genes will never fully 'explain' educational attainment because, in this context, social environment is more powerful than genetics. However, researchers predict that with further methodological innovations and bigger sample sizes, genetic information might account for up to 30% of variation in educational attainment and, thus, should no longer have a status of omitted variable.
In my project I intend to use 74 loci that have already been identified to have an association with educational attainment. They will serve as 'candidate genes': exposure variables will be restricted to those specific SNPs that were found to be associated with educational attainment. Outcome variables will be educational attainment, cognitive performance, and personality traits. If SNPs that were identified to have an effect on educational attainment are also significant in the context of cognitive performance or personality traits (such as resistence, self-control), then the overlap of these phenotypes can be inferred and the association between them can be further tested. Moreover, biological pathways will be explored using bioinformatics analyses that help to identify mechanisms through which genes have an effect on cognitive performance and personality traits. For example, I would like to look if the identified SNPs are found in genes that are responsible for brain plasticity (which has an effect on memory and, thus, cognitive performance). Finally, the longitudinal data will be used to see if and how the association between genes and educational attainment has been changing over the years. More precisely, changes in the effect of educational attainment polygenic scores (indices that combine several genetic variants) will be investigated.