Spread of academic success in a high school social network

PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e55944. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055944. Epub 2013 Feb 13.

Abstract

Application of social network analysis to education has revealed how social network positions of K-12 students correlate with their behavior and academic achievements. However, no study has been conducted on how their social network influences their academic progress over time. Here we investigated correlations between high school students' academic progress over one year and the social environment that surrounds them in their friendship network. We found that students whose friends' average GPA (Grade Point Average) was greater (or less) than their own had a higher tendency toward increasing (or decreasing) their academic ranking over time, indicating social contagion of academic success taking place in their social network.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Achievement*
  • Adolescent
  • Educational Measurement
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Friends*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Peer Group*
  • Schools*
  • Social Environment*
  • Students*

Grants and funding

This material is based upon work supported by the US National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1027752. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.