God, Grades, and Graduation

This book tells a story about the surprising ways in which a religious upbringing shapes the academic pathways for teens of different gender and class backgrounds. It shows how the attitudes and outlook of Christian teens who organize their life around their belief in God carries over to the academic realm. On the one hand, religious teens--especially working-class boys--earn better grades and complete more years of college than their non-religious peers. On the other hand, middle-upper class teens--especially girls--wind up choosing to attend less selective colleges than their peers with similar grades.