“Assortative Mating” and its Effect on Inequality
Societal inequality is created through generations of disadvantaged populations. These disadvantages arise from differences in nuclear family structures, which are based on connections between both parents, as well as any children they may have. The article referenced discusses the impediments black women face with the growing phenomenon of assortative mating – in this case, marrying someone with a similar educational status. Educational status has long been linked towards upwards mobility, more so than income. People with a higher educational status have the opportunity to receive a higher income than their counterparts, and will then pass those benefits onto their offspring. However, as stated in the article, black women are less likely to marry those who are of a similar educational level, making it harder to close the inequality gap.
According to the article, black women are inclined to marry within their race, and more likely to obtain college degrees. As a result, black women have fewer potential relationship links – in a network, they would have weaker/fewer connections to other possible “mates”. Using the theory of Strong Triadic Closure, if person B and person C are connected, then person A and person C must also be linked. In this case, B and C are good friends, and C is being introduced to A. With the given criteria, the potential dating pool of peers for degree-holding black women is smaller — leading to a greater chance of the connection between A and C being weak – which would mean persons A and C have a weak relationship. This decreases the chance of marriage. In addition to this, the tendency to not marry outside of their race further diminishes the number of other people, or nodes, that A can form strong connections with. For every A (a degree-holding black woman looking for an educational peer), there are four different possible nodes: D(an educational and racial peer), E(a racial peer), F(an educational peer), G(neither an educational nor racial peer). Of these four possibilities, A is most likely to form a strong, possible romantic relationship with person D. However, the chance of A finding D is slim, leading to fewer strong triadic closures.
Strong triadic closures are necessary for a strong nuclear family network. In the case of degree-holding black women, this includes a racial an educational peer, which leads to an increased ability to stabilize a socio-economic status- which is a necessary step towards closing the gap of inequality. However, with a reduced probability of forming said relationship, the opportune family network cannot be created.