We ask whether patterns of racial ethnic and socioeconomic stratification in educational attainment are amplified or attenuated when we take a longer view of educational careers. We propose a model of staged advantage to understand how educational inequalities evolve over the life course. Distinct from cumulative advantage, staged advantage asserts that inequalities in education ebb and flow over the life course as the population at risk of making each educational transition changes along with the constraints they confront in seeking more education. Results based on data from the 2014 follow up of the sophomore cohort of High School and Beyond offer partial support for our hypotheses. The educational attainment process was far from over for our respondents as they aged through their 30s and 40s: More than 6 of 10 continued their formal training during this period, and 4 of 10 earned an additional credential. Patterns of educational stratification at midlife became more pronounced in some ways as women pulled further ahead of men in their educational attainments and parental education (but not income), and high school academic achievement continued to shape educational trajectories at the bachelor’s degree level and beyond. However, African Americans gained on whites during this life phase through continued formal (largely academic) training and slightly greater conditional probabilities of graduate or professional degree attainment; social background fails to predict earning an associate’s degree. These results, showing educational changes and transitions far into adulthood, have implications for our understanding of the complex role of education in stratification processes.

我们询问，当我们对教育事业采取更长远的看法时，教育成就中的种族和社会经济分层模式是否会被放大或减弱。我们提出了一个阶段性优势模型了解教育不平等如何在生命历程中演变。与累积优势不同，阶段优势断言，教育不平等会随着每个教育转型面临风险的人口随着他们在寻求更多教育时面临的限制而发生变化而在整个生命过程中起起落落。基于 2014 年高中及以上二年级学生后续数据的结果为我们的假设提供了部分支持。我们的受访者在 30 多岁和 40 多岁之间的受教育程度还远未结束：在此期间，10 人中有 6 人继续接受正规培训，10 人中有 4 人获得了额外的证书。中年教育分层模式在某些方面变得更加明显，因为女性在教育程度和父母教育（但不是收入）方面进一步领先于男性，高中学业成绩继续塑造学士学位及以上水平的教育轨迹。然而，非裔美国人通过持续的正式（主要是学术）培训和略高的获得研究生或专业学位的条件概率，在这一生命阶段获得了白人的支持；社会背景无法预测获得副学士学位。这些结果显示了教育的变化和远至成年的转变，对我们理解教育在分层过程中的复杂作用具有重要意义。高中学业成绩继续塑造学士学位及以上的教育轨迹。然而，非裔美国人通过持续的正式（主要是学术）培训和略高的获得研究生或专业学位的条件概率，在这一生命阶段获得了白人的支持；社会背景无法预测获得副学士学位。这些结果显示了教育的变化和远至成年的转变，对我们理解教育在分层过程中的复杂作用具有重要意义。高中学业成绩继续塑造学士学位及以上的教育轨迹。然而，非裔美国人通过持续的正式（主要是学术）培训和略高的获得研究生或专业学位的条件概率，在这一生命阶段获得了白人的支持；社会背景无法预测获得副学士学位。这些结果显示了教育的变化和远至成年的转变，对我们理解教育在分层过程中的复杂作用具有重要意义。非裔美国人在这一生阶段通过持续的正式（主要是学术）培训和获得研究生或专业学位的条件概率略高，获得了白人的支持；社会背景无法预测获得副学士学位。这些结果显示了教育的变化和远至成年的转变，对我们理解教育在分层过程中的复杂作用具有重要意义。非裔美国人在这一生阶段通过持续的正式（主要是学术）培训和获得研究生或专业学位的条件概率略高，获得了白人的支持；社会背景无法预测获得副学士学位。这些结果显示了教育的变化和远至成年的转变，对我们理解教育在分层过程中的复杂作用具有重要意义。