34 Colleges Rule America and Harvard Rules Them All
Comments about a New Study on American Elites
Nature just published an article about American elites. The message is pretty simple. If you look at the population of people who reach the heights of American, and often global, society you discover that most elites come from about 34 schools and Harvard in particular. To summarize, show me a Nobel prize winner, or a Fortune 500 CEO, or a Pulitzer Prize winner, then there’s a good chance you’re showing me a Harvard graduate.
It’s a neat article and you should check it out. Here’s a few comments from me. First, this is a nice illustration of what sociologists have known for decades: connections often follow a power law. That is, if you ask: How many colleges have connections to elites? The answer is a graph where a few colleges hog up a very disproportional number of ties to elites and most have very few ties.
Second, I often thought about self-selection while reading this article. Yes, it’s well known that elites tend to be associated with a few institutions. The big question is whether elite people go to fancy schools or does going to a fancy school make you into an elite? The article doesn’t say, but loyal readers know that I’ve discussed this sort of thing in the past. For example, legacy admissions policies are a way to draw elites to your school. At the same time, being near elite networks can take a smart working-class kid and turn them into a Big 5 Accountant or appeals court judge. Also, I take “prism” networks affects seriously. Just possessing a credential might be enough to boost your visibility in highly competitive fields. My guestimate is that it’s probably 50% self-selection and 50% treatment.
Bottom line: If you want to rule the world, don’t skip that application to Harvard.
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