The Effect of Father's Presence on Postsecondary Educational Attainment Among Whites and Blacks

Previous studies (e.g., Wolfle, 1985) that have examined black-white differences in models of educational attainment have in general only looked at intact families, with fathers present. But such family configurations are less characteristic of blacks than of whites. The analysis reported here compares a model of educational attainment for whites and blacks that explicitly measures the presence of the father in the household. The results indicate that no substantial differences are to be found in the process of educational attainment for whites and blacks when father's presence is controlled.