The rural-urban gap in educational inequality: Enhancement or compensation in genetic associations with educational attainment

“While educational systems have expanded, regional and social disparities in attainment remain remarkably persistent. This study integrates social stratification research with behavioural genetics to examine how macro-level regional opportunity structures and micro-level family environments moderate the genetic influence on education. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and a Polygenic Index (PGI) for educational attainment, we test a Gene-by-Environment-by-Environment (GxExE) framework. Contrary to social enhancement and compensation models, our results indicate that genetic associations with education are stable across both rural/urban contexts and varying socioeconomic backgrounds. However, we find a significant interaction between family SES and urbanicity: urban environments amplify the advantages of high-SES families, whereas rural contexts appear to act as a “leveller” that constrains opportunities regardless of social background. These findings suggest that regional macro-structures do not moderate genetic associations directly but instead condition the efficacy of social and cultural capital. Our study underscores the necessity of incorporating macro-level institutional contexts into genetically informed models of inequality.”