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Integration in emerging social networks explains academic failure and success

Author

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  • Christoph Stadtfeld

    (Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • András Vörös

    (Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Timon Elmer

    (Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Zsófia Boda

    (Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Isabel J. Raabe

    (Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland; Institute of Sociology, University of Zürich, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland)

Abstract

Academic success of students has been explained with a variety of individual and socioeconomic factors. Social networks that informally emerge within student communities can have an additional effect on their achievement. However, this effect of social ties is difficult to measure and quantify, because social networks are multidimensional and dynamically evolving within the educational context. We repeatedly surveyed a cohort of 226 engineering undergraduates between their first day at university and a crucial examination at the end of the academic year. We investigate how social networks emerge between previously unacquainted students and how integration in these networks explains academic success. Our study measures multiple important dimensions of social ties between students: their positive interactions, friendships, and studying relations. By using statistical models for dynamic network data, we are able to investigate the processes of social network formation in the cohort. We find that friendship ties informally evolve into studying relationships over the academic year. This process is crucial, as studying together with others, in turn, has a strong impact on students’ success at the examination. The results are robust to individual differences in socioeconomic background factors and to various indirect measures of cognitive abilities, such as prior academic achievement and being perceived as smart by other students. The findings underline the importance of understanding social network dynamics in educational settings. They call for the creation of university environments promoting the development of positive relationships in pursuit of academic success.

Suggested Citation

  • Christoph Stadtfeld & András Vörös & Timon Elmer & Zsófia Boda & Isabel J. Raabe, 2019. "Integration in emerging social networks explains academic failure and success," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(3), pages 792-797, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:116:y:2019:p:792-797
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    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigo Dorantes-Gilardi & Aurora A. Ramírez-Álvarez & Diana Terrazas-Santamaría, 2021. "Is there a differentiated gender effect of collaboration with supercited authors? Evidence from early-career economists," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2021-05, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
    2. Qi Lin & Shuo Yu & Ke Sun & Wenhong Zhao & Osama Alfarraj & Amr Tolba & Feng Xia, 2022. "Robust Graph Neural Networks via Ensemble Learning," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Simpson, Cohen R., 2022. "Social support and network formation in a small-scale horticulturalist population," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116694, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Julia M. Rohrer & Tamás Keller & Felix Elwert, 2020. "Proximity Can Induce Diverse Friendships: A Large Randomized Classroom Experiment," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2053, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.

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