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Stature and education among Roma women: taller stature is associated with better educational and economic outcomes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2019

Jelena Čvorović Open the ORCID record for Jelena Čvorović [Opens in a new window]
Jelena Čvorović*
Affiliation:
Institute of Ethnography, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
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Abstract

The association between body height and educational outcome, as measured by years of completed schooling, was investigated among Roma women in Serbia in 2014–2018. Height, demographic data, level of schooling and reproductive histories were collected from 691 Roma women aged between 16 and 80 years living in rural settlements in central and western Serbia. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that short stature was associated with an increased risk of low education, possibly as a result of poor growth and developmental disadvantage in early life. Roma cultural practices were also shown to influence the school achievement of these Roma girls: in addition to height, education was positively associated with a higher bride price and better socioeconomic status, as acquired through marriage. For Roma women, height might influence not only their level of education but also their lifetime prospects.

Keywords

StatureEducationRoma women
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , March 2020 , pp. 260 - 271
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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