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The Persistent Effects of Short-Term Peer Groups in Higher Education

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  • Thiemann, Petra

    (Lund University)

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that short-term peer exposure can generate achievement effects which persist for several months and years. I study a mandatory freshmen week for first-year undergraduates and exploit the random assignment of students to freshmen teams. I find that the freshmen week contributes to the formation of persistent social ties. Furthermore, peers' observable characteristics impact college achievement for up to three years. Ability peer effects are non-linear, i.e. very high or low levels of average peer ability in a group harm students' grades. These effects are most pronounced for low-ability students.

Suggested Citation

  • Thiemann, Petra, 2017. "The Persistent Effects of Short-Term Peer Groups in Higher Education," IZA Discussion Papers 11024, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11024
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    Cited by:

    1. Fischer, Thomas & Rode, Johannes, 2020. "Classroom or pub - Where are persistent peer relationships between university students formed?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 474-493.
    2. Ulf Zölitz & Jan Feld, 2021. "The Effect of Peer Gender on Major Choice in Business School," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 6963-6979, November.
    3. Getik, Demid & Meier, Armando N., 2020. "Peer Gender and Mental Health," Working papers 2020/15, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    4. Agurto Adrianzén, Marcos & Fiestas Chevez, Hugo & Nuñez Morales, Wenceslao & Quevedo, Valeria & Vegas Chiyón, Susana, 2019. "Study-group diversity and early college academic outcomes: Experimental evidence from a higher education inclusion program in Peru," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 131-146.
    5. Daniel Goller & Andrea Diem & Stefan C. Wolter, 2022. "Sitting next to a dropout: Study success of students with peers that came to the lecture hall by a different route," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0190, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    6. Coveney, Max & Oosterveen, Matthijs, 2021. "What drives ability peer effects?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    7. Dinarte Diaz,Lelys Ileana, 2020. "Peer Effects on Violence : Experimental Evidence from El Salvador," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9187, The World Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    peer effects; higher education; natural experiment; gender; region of origin; ability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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