Education and Demographic Change

Catalog description

Education is one of the most important factors affecting major demographic shifts and processes worldwide, including the first and second demographic transitions. If, as the old sociological adage goes "demography is destiny," then our destiny is educationally transformed demography. Interdisciplinary research across demography, sociology, neuropsychology, and epidemiology is developing a strong research literature about how the thinking style, behavior, and attitudes of the educated human radically change fundamental dynamics underlying the world's population. The whole way in which we come to our jobs, spouses, and lifestyles; how many children we have and how we raise them; how long we are likely to live, and what will be our eventual demise are all heavily influenced by how much education we have had. The collective force of widespread education and its influence on rising cognitive abilities, scripts for living, and economic well-being are creating a distinctly new type of human population with major benefits and future challenges for a sustainable human population. At the same time, individuals' schooling is also influenced by demographic change. This seminar covers key concepts, theories, and methodological issues related to the intersection of demographical and cultural changes from the education revolution and their impact on subsequent demographic processes.