A parent’s genes can influence a child’s educational success, inherited or not

A child’s educational success depends on the genes that they haven’t inherited from their parents, as well as the genes they have, according to a new study.

How Inherited and Inherited Parent Genes Shape Academic Success and Family Environment

Success in school is influenced by both the parent genes a child directly inherits and the uninhabited genes.

The study suggests that genes a person inherits likely directly influence their ability to succeed in school. Parent genes, although not directly inherited, shape the parents’ own education levels and subsequently affect the lifestyle and family environment they provide for their children. These factors are equally important and can affect how well a person does at school and beyond.

Children resemble their parents because of the genes they inherit from their parents (nature) and the surroundings they grow in(nurture). However, there are some mixed results from nature and nurture.

Researchers reviewed 12 global studies, using polygenic scoring to analyze genetic variants’ influence on education in 40,000 pairs.

The researchers found that genetic nurture had roughly half as much influence on educational accomplishments as genetic inheritance.

The studies showed that polygenic scores attributed at least 1.28% of the variation in educational outcomes to genetic nurture effects. In contrast, direct genetic influences could account for at least 2.89% of the variation. This suggests that while genetic nurture plays a role, direct genetic effects have a more substantial impact on educational success. The results highlight the significance of both inherited and non-inherited genetic factors in shaping educational achievements.

Researchers argue that polygenic scores likely underestimate heritability in educational outcomes, capturing only a fraction of genetic influence. The actual genetic effects could be significantly higher, potentially several times more than what polygenic scores reveal. Even with this potential increase, researchers anticipate that direct genetic effects will be about twice as impactful as genetic nurture effects. This suggests a substantial role for genetics in educational success beyond what current measures fully capture.