There's official data from the NCES on the share of children and young people still in school from 1940-2022(for 18 and 19 year olds it seperates young adults studying in higher education vs high school).
For 2020, the share still in school was 49.0% for 18 and 19 year olds(higher education), and 52.8% for 20 and 21 year olds(slight overestimate because some young adults are in school but not higher education). If 50% are in school, the average would be ~106 for 2020, with a standard deviation of 8.792. Compared to 1963(first year with a split between higher and high school education for 18 and 19 year old american students), the percentages are 29.8% and 25% respectively. The average IQ for students would be ~ 111. Notably, the percentage of 18 and 19 year olds in higher education has plateaued since 2005, and 20 and 21 year olds in school was the same in 2011 and 2020(although there was an increase of ~5% since 2005 to 2019).
Well stated. WRT male vs female IQ differences and level of degree attained. I’m confused here. I always suspected such in that my impression from a career in academia was that females tended to major in degree areas less rigorous than males. Hence males in any particular advanced degree areas, e.g., Mathematics, would have higher IQ’s. I guess I just don’t understand your interpretation. Am I off here?
"there is little empirical evidence that the (true) cognitive ability of the average American has shifted in the last 50 years, so this cause can be ignored."
Beauchamp (2016) studied genomic data from 11,822 Americans of European ancestry born between 1931 and 1953. From 1931 to 1953, each successive age cohort had, on average, fewer alleles associated with high educational attainment. The decline seemed to be due to lower fertility among those participants who had pursued higher education. The mean EA polygenic score was thus significantly higher among the childless than among individuals with one or more children.
Kong et al. (2017) came to a similar conclusion after studying genomic data from 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990.
Madison et al. (2016) found a lengthening of reaction time in Swedish participants, particularly for cohorts born since 1980. The corresponding decline in IQ is estimated at 1.3 to 1.7 points per decade. Reaction time has a moderate to high correlation with IQ.
References
Beauchamp, J.P. (2016). Genetic evidence for natural selection in humans in the contemporary United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(28), 7774-7779. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1600398113
Kong, A., Frigge, M.L., Thorleifsson, G., Stefansson, H., Young, A.I., Zink, F., Jonsdottir, G.A., Okbay, A., Sulem, P., Masson, G., Gudbjartsson, D.F., Helgason, A., Bjornsdottir, G., Thorsteinsdottir, U., and Stefansson, K. (2017). Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(5), E727-E732. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1612113114
Madison, G., Woodley of Menie, M.A., and Sänger, J. (2016). Secular Slowing of Auditory Simple Reaction Time in Sweden (1959-1985). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, August 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00407
There is a 90% correlation between mean population IQ and alleles associated with educational attainment.
Reaction time has a moderate to high correlation with IQ.
I'm sure we could argue these points back and forth, but it's difficult to argue that there is "little empirical evidence." "Little evidence" doesn't mean "evidence I don't agree with."
Are you familiar with the typical IQ range among students pursuing STEM disciplines? Having completed a degree in Computer Science myself, I've observed that while the field can be intricate, attaining a graduate degree is relatively straightforward. Many of my classmates, whom I wouldn't necessarily consider exceptionally bright, have successfully completed the program.
I just graduated CS six months ago from a mid state school. Some electives had uploaded practice exams from the pre-covid era and they were noticeably harder. This was not the case with the weed-out courses though.
This is about those attending not those that have actually graduated. Everyone is misreading this article. It says nothing about graduates
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_103.20.asp
There's official data from the NCES on the share of children and young people still in school from 1940-2022(for 18 and 19 year olds it seperates young adults studying in higher education vs high school).
For 2020, the share still in school was 49.0% for 18 and 19 year olds(higher education), and 52.8% for 20 and 21 year olds(slight overestimate because some young adults are in school but not higher education). If 50% are in school, the average would be ~106 for 2020, with a standard deviation of 8.792. Compared to 1963(first year with a split between higher and high school education for 18 and 19 year old american students), the percentages are 29.8% and 25% respectively. The average IQ for students would be ~ 111. Notably, the percentage of 18 and 19 year olds in higher education has plateaued since 2005, and 20 and 21 year olds in school was the same in 2011 and 2020(although there was an increase of ~5% since 2005 to 2019).
Well stated. WRT male vs female IQ differences and level of degree attained. I’m confused here. I always suspected such in that my impression from a career in academia was that females tended to major in degree areas less rigorous than males. Hence males in any particular advanced degree areas, e.g., Mathematics, would have higher IQ’s. I guess I just don’t understand your interpretation. Am I off here?
I'm also confused about this. Men tend to get less prestigious degrees than women???
They are less likely to get teritary degrees, but are more intelligent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collider_(statistics)
"there is little empirical evidence that the (true) cognitive ability of the average American has shifted in the last 50 years, so this cause can be ignored."
Beauchamp (2016) studied genomic data from 11,822 Americans of European ancestry born between 1931 and 1953. From 1931 to 1953, each successive age cohort had, on average, fewer alleles associated with high educational attainment. The decline seemed to be due to lower fertility among those participants who had pursued higher education. The mean EA polygenic score was thus significantly higher among the childless than among individuals with one or more children.
Kong et al. (2017) came to a similar conclusion after studying genomic data from 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990.
Madison et al. (2016) found a lengthening of reaction time in Swedish participants, particularly for cohorts born since 1980. The corresponding decline in IQ is estimated at 1.3 to 1.7 points per decade. Reaction time has a moderate to high correlation with IQ.
References
Beauchamp, J.P. (2016). Genetic evidence for natural selection in humans in the contemporary United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(28), 7774-7779. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1600398113
Kong, A., Frigge, M.L., Thorleifsson, G., Stefansson, H., Young, A.I., Zink, F., Jonsdottir, G.A., Okbay, A., Sulem, P., Masson, G., Gudbjartsson, D.F., Helgason, A., Bjornsdottir, G., Thorsteinsdottir, U., and Stefansson, K. (2017). Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(5), E727-E732. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1612113114
Madison, G., Woodley of Menie, M.A., and Sänger, J. (2016). Secular Slowing of Auditory Simple Reaction Time in Sweden (1959-1985). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, August 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00407
genetic change =/= phenotypic change
And the reaction time decline is way too large to be caused by IQ.
There is a 90% correlation between mean population IQ and alleles associated with educational attainment.
Reaction time has a moderate to high correlation with IQ.
I'm sure we could argue these points back and forth, but it's difficult to argue that there is "little empirical evidence." "Little evidence" doesn't mean "evidence I don't agree with."
Are you familiar with the typical IQ range among students pursuing STEM disciplines? Having completed a degree in Computer Science myself, I've observed that while the field can be intricate, attaining a graduate degree is relatively straightforward. Many of my classmates, whom I wouldn't necessarily consider exceptionally bright, have successfully completed the program.
BTW, I love your posts.
I just graduated CS six months ago from a mid state school. Some electives had uploaded practice exams from the pre-covid era and they were noticeably harder. This was not the case with the weed-out courses though.
That’s normal. 50% end up studying
Jensen, I am creating a books list; please add as you see fit:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KOCR-qSvx0vi0XU18pglwh84NVkk2i0DANdHeM4xMmo/edit?tab=t.0