Rachel A. Gordon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Gordon's research examines contextual and social factors that affect children and families. She has studied how childcare quality affects child development, the relationships between youth gang participation and delinquency, the association between community context and child wellbeing, the causes and consequences of grandmother co-residential support for young mothers, and an evaluation of an innovative job program for young couples. She is the author of two textbooks (Regression Analysis for the Social Sciences; Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences) and has published her research in leading academic journals including the American Journal of Evaluation, Child Development, Criminology, Demography, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Journal of Research on Adolescence. Robert Crosnoe is the Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Department of Psychology (by courtesy), and Population Research Center. His main field of interest is the life course and human development, with a special emphasis on social psychological approaches to education and how they can illuminate socioeconomic and immigration-related inequalities. His current work focuses on the role of general developmental processes, including health and social relationships, in the educational experiences of Mexican-origin children and of children and adolescents from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. His books include Mexican Roots, American Schools: Helping Mexican Immigrant Children Succeed (Stanford) and Fitting In, Standing Out: Navigating the Social Challenges of High School to Get an Education (Cambridge). Xue Wang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology. Her research interests include the development of children and adolescents across different social settings. She has a couple of journal publications examining childcare quality and mother's related outcomes. She is also involved in the research about surgery qualities with some publications. Xue's dissertation examines the parental influences on adolescents friendship formation.

• ABSTRACT viiI. INTRODUCTION 1II. CONCEPTUAL MODEL 9III. DATA AND METHODS 27IV. PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND  HUMAN CAPITAL: TESTING THE BASIC MODEL WITH  QUANTITATIVE DATA 44 V. EXAMINING AND ELABORATING THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL WITH QUALITATIVE DATA 79VI. PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND HUMAN CAPITAL: TESTING THE ELABORATED MODEL WITH QUANTITATIVE DATA 88VII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 99REFERENCES 111ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 121CONTRIBUTORS 122STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY 123SUBJECT INDEX 125

Rachel A. Gordon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Gordon's research examines contextual and social factors that affect children and families. She has studied how childcare quality affects child development, the relationships between youth gang participation and delinquency, the association between community context and child wellbeing, the causes and consequences of grandmother co-residential support for young mothers, and an evaluation of an innovative job program for young couples. She is the author of two textbooks (Regression Analysis for the Social Sciences; Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences) and has published her research in leading academic journals including the American Journal of Evaluation, Child Development, Criminology, Demography, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Journal of Research on Adolescence. Robert Crosnoe is the Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Department of Psychology (by courtesy), and Population Research Center. His main field of interest is the life course and human development, with a special emphasis on social psychological approaches to education and how they can illuminate socioeconomic and immigration-related inequalities. His current work focuses on the role of general developmental processes, including health and social relationships, in the educational experiences of Mexican-origin children and of children and adolescents from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. His books include Mexican Roots, American Schools: Helping Mexican Immigrant Children Succeed (Stanford) and Fitting In, Standing Out: Navigating the Social Challenges of High School to Get an Education (Cambridge). Xue Wang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology. Her research interests include the development of children and adolescents across different social settings. She has a couple of journal publications examining childcare quality and mother's related outcomes. She is also involved in the research about surgery qualities with some publications. Xue's dissertation examines the parental influences on adolescents friendship formation.

• ABSTRACT viiI. INTRODUCTION 1II. CONCEPTUAL MODEL 9III. DATA AND METHODS 27IV. PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND  HUMAN CAPITAL: TESTING THE BASIC MODEL WITH  QUANTITATIVE DATA 44 V. EXAMINING AND ELABORATING THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL WITH QUALITATIVE DATA 79VI. PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND HUMAN CAPITAL: TESTING THE ELABORATED MODEL WITH QUANTITATIVE DATA 88VII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 99REFERENCES 111ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 121CONTRIBUTORS 122STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY 123SUBJECT INDEX 125

Rachel A. Gordon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Gordon's research examines contextual and social factors that affect children and families. She has studied how childcare quality affects child development, the relationships between youth gang participation and delinquency, the association between community context and child wellbeing, the causes and consequences of grandmother co-residential support for young mothers, and an evaluation of an innovative job program for young couples. She is the author of two textbooks (Regression Analysis for the Social Sciences; Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences) and has published her research in leading academic journals including the American Journal of Evaluation, Child Development, Criminology, Demography, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Journal of Research on Adolescence. Robert Crosnoe is the Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Department of Psychology (by courtesy), and Population Research Center. His main field of interest is the life course and human development, with a special emphasis on social psychological approaches to education and how they can illuminate socioeconomic and immigration-related inequalities. His current work focuses on the role of general developmental processes, including health and social relationships, in the educational experiences of Mexican-origin children and of children and adolescents from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. His books include Mexican Roots, American Schools: Helping Mexican Immigrant Children Succeed (Stanford) and Fitting In, Standing Out: Navigating the Social Challenges of High School to Get an Education (Cambridge). Xue Wang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology. Her research interests include the development of children and adolescents across different social settings. She has a couple of journal publications examining childcare quality and mother's related outcomes. She is also involved in the research about surgery qualities with some publications. Xue's dissertation examines the parental influences on adolescents friendship formation.

• ABSTRACT viiI. INTRODUCTION 1II. CONCEPTUAL MODEL 9III. DATA AND METHODS 27IV. PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND  HUMAN CAPITAL: TESTING THE BASIC MODEL WITH  QUANTITATIVE DATA 44 V. EXAMINING AND ELABORATING THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL WITH QUALITATIVE DATA 79VI. PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND HUMAN CAPITAL: TESTING THE ELABORATED MODEL WITH QUANTITATIVE DATA 88VII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 99REFERENCES 111ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 121CONTRIBUTORS 122STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY 123SUBJECT INDEX 125