A new study has found DNA plays a big role in whether people choose to take up higher education, as well as their academic success, the Daily Mail reported.For the study, researchers at King’s College London studied 3,000 pairs of twins. Genetics made up 51% of the difference in whether people chose to go to university,
After investigating teens taking A-levels, GCSEs and college degrees, they found genetics was crucial at every level.
“We have shown for the first time that genetic influence on educational achievement continues into higher education,” co-leader Dr Emily Smith-Woolley, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), told the Daily Mail.
Adding, “Our results also demonstrate that the appetite young adults have for choosing to continue with higher education is, in part, influenced by their DNA.”
The study also found an evironmental factor like family was less influential.
The Daily Mail quoted Dr Ziada Ayorech, from the IoPPN who co-led the research: “University provides young people with greater opportunity to be independent and to carve out their interests based on their natural abilities and aptitudes.”
“Students’ unique environments – such as new friends, and new experiences – appear to be explaining differences in university achievement and the role of shared environment becomes less significant.”
The study was originally published in the journal Scientific Reports.
