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Formation of homophily in academic performance: Students change their friends rather than performance.

ABSTRACT: Homophily, the tendency of individuals to associate with others who share similar traits, has been identified as a major driving force in the formation and evolution of social ties. In many cases, it is not clear if homophily is the result of a socialization process, where individuals change their traits according to the dominance of that trait in their local social networks, or if it results from a selection process, in which individuals reshape their social networks so that their traits match those in the new environment. Here we demonstrate the detailed temporal formation of strong homophily in academic achievements of high school and university students. We analyze a unique dataset that contains information about the detailed time evolution of a friendship network of 6,000 students across 42 months. Combining the evolving social network data with the time series of the academic performance (GPA) of individual students, we show that academic homophily is a result of selection: students prefer to gradually reorganize their social networks according to their performance levels, rather than adapting their performance to the level of their local group. We find no signs for a pull effect, where a social environment of good performers motivates bad students to improve their performance. We are able to understand the underlying dynamics of grades and networks with a simple model. The lack of a social pull effect in classical educational settings could have important implications for the understanding of the observed persistence of segregation, inequality and social immobility in societies.

SUBMITTER: Smirnov I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5576666 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Formation of homophily in academic performance: Students change their friends rather than performance.

Smirnov Ivan I Thurner Stefan S

PloS one 20170830 8

Homophily, the tendency of individuals to associate with others who share similar traits, has been identified as a major driving force in the formation and evolution of social ties. In many cases, it is not clear if homophily is the result of a socialization process, where individuals change their traits according to the dominance of that trait in their local social networks, or if it results from a selection process, in which individuals reshape their social networks so that their traits match ...[more]

PMID: 28854202

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Project description:BackgroundSleep disorders are composed of a group of diseases of increasing prevalence and with social-health implications to be considered a public health problem. Sleep habits and specific sleep behaviors have an influence on the academic success of students. However, the characteristics of sleep and sleep habits of university students as predictors of poor academic performance have been scarcely analyzed. In the present study, we aimed to investigate sleep habits and their influence on academic performance in a cohort of Nursing Degree students.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional and observational study. An anonymous and self-administered questionnaire was used, including different scales such as the 'Morningness and Eveningness scale', an author-generated sleep habit questionnaire, and certain variables aimed at studying the socio-familial and academic aspects of the Nursing students. The association of sleep habits and other variables with poor academic performance was investigated by logistic regression. The internal consistency and homogeneity of the 'sleep habits questionnaire' was assessed with the Cronbach's alpha test.ResultsOverall, 401 students (mean age of 22.1 ± 4.9 years, 74.8 % females) from the Nursing Degree were included. The homogeneity of the 'sleep habits questionnaire' was appropriate (Cronbach's alpha = 0.710). Nursing students were characterized by an evening chronotype (20.2 %) and a short sleep pattern. 30.4 % of the Nursing students had bad sleep habits. Regarding the academic performance, 47.9 % of the students showed a poor one. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, a short sleep pattern (adjusted OR = 1.53, 95 % CI 1.01-2.34), bad sleep habits (aOR = 1.76, 95 % CI 1.11-2.79), and age < 25 years (aOR = 2.27, 95 % CI 1.30-3.98) were independently associated with a higher probability of poor academic performance.ConclusionsAlmost 1/3 of the Nursing students were identified as having bad sleep habits, and these students were characterized by an evening chronotype and a short sleep pattern. A short sleep pattern, bad sleep habits, and age < 25 years, were independently associated with a higher risk of poor academic performance. This requires multifactorial approaches and the involvement of all the associated actors: teachers, academic institutions, health institutions, and the people in charge in university residences, among others.

Project description:UnlabelledBackground. Little research exists on the impact of paid work on academic performance of students of health sciences. No research exists on this subject for students in Colombia. Objectives. This paper seeks to analyze the impact of paid work on academic performance among nursing students.Design, settings and participantscross-sectional research, involving 430 of nursing students from the National University of Colombia (N = 566). Methods. Variables analyzed: sex, age, work activity, attendance, current semester, degree subjects studied and unavailable, lost credits, grades during the second semester of 2013, and delayed semesters. Subgroups analyzed: (i) according to labor activity: do not work, work up to 20 h and work more than 20 h per week; (ii) Grade point average: failing is considered as less than 3.0 and passing 3.0 or above out of 5.0. Percentage of delayed semesters were calculated. Qualitative and quantitative variables were analyzed for groups by work activity. The percentage and probability of students getting a grade point average less than 3.0 and delaying semesters were calculated by multivariate logistic regression. Results. A total of 219 of the students work (50.9%), the main reason is socioeconomic, of which 99 (45.2%) work more than 20 h per week and have an increased risk of failing, which is higher in the first semester. They also get lower grades, lose more credits and take longer to finish the degree. The logistic bivariate regressions of success (grade point average, credits gained, courses gained and not having delayed semesters) reduce with work, above all in those who work more than 20 h per week and increase as the number of semesters completed increases, independent of sex. Conclusion. A high percentage of nursing students work more than 20 h per week. The compatibility of paid work with studies in university nursing students has a negative impact on academic performance, more so when they work more than 20 h per week. This negative impact diminishes as the student completes semesters, irrespective of the sex of the students.

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Formation of homophily in academic performance: Students change their friends rather than performance.

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Formation of homophily in academic performance: Students change their friends rather than performance.

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