Our peer group are well known to have a strong influence on our activities and performance in a wide range of spheres, so the finding from new research from HSE University that our social network significantly influences our academic performance should come as no real surprise.
The study found that students tend to do better when their peer group contains high-performing friends, as these people inspired them to raise their standards.
Student performance
The researchers suggest that traditionally, student academic performance is thought to be affected by one of four things:
- The socioeconomic status of the student’s family
- The time the student spends on independent learning and preparation for class
- The time the student spends working on a job or practicing hobbies
- The school environment
However, it’s increasingly accepted that the social environment also plays a crucial role, as our classmates influence our behavior and academic performance. The authors suggest that existing studies into this domain have been limited by design flaws, especially around the seemingly random selection of classmates to determine one’s social network, rather than the very deliberate selection that actually forms our peer group.
The researchers attempted to overcome this by gathering data on 117 students at a Russian university to explore any correlation between their academic performance and the friends they chose. The interactions and dynamics between social group members was measured and analyzed using stochastic actor-based modeling.
Choosing friends wisely
The results suggest that students don’t appear to choose friends according to their academic performance, but over time, the academic performance of a peer group tends to coalesce around a similar level.
“With the use of data on the dynamics of friendship, assistance and academic performance networks, we monitor essential differences in the functionality of these connections. We have proven that asking for help with studies does not lead to growth in performance. However, friendship with those who get good grades does,” the researchers say.
This therefore results in students who surround themselves with high-achievers seeing their own results improve, whilst the opposite was also true. It also appeared the case that while underachievers typically have a stronger influence on their peer group, high performers obtained popularity and influence over time, especially if they were able to help their friends with their studies.
Men were found to have larger networks than women, and all students were more likely to be friends with those whom they had known before college, classmates of the same gender, and members of their study group.
