ADVERTISEMENT

An economist and former Googler says it probably doesn't matter where you went to college — here's why

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz explains that elite colleges admit people who are smart and talented in the first place — they don't make you that way.

The Ivy League doesn't work magic.

On the whole, Harvard grads make more money and land better jobs than students who graduate from, say, your average state school.

ADVERTISEMENT

After all, they go through a uniquely rigorous academic program and are educated by some of the finest scholars in the world — they're pretty much primed for success.

Except that's not actually how things work.

The reason Ivy-League grads generally do better than state-school grads isn't because of their Ivy League education. It's because they're smarter and more talented than the rest of us — and that's why they were admitted to the Ivy League in the first place.

ADVERTISEMENT

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a former Google data scientist and Harvard-trained economist (of course) outlines this idea in his new book, "Everybody Lies." The book explores the myriad uses of Big Data — from anonymized Google searches to the language people use on first dates — and what it reveals about human behavior.

My mind was blown when I reached the point in "Everybody Lies" where Stephens-Davidowitz explained that where you go to college doesn't matter — partly because the science behind it is so simple and partly because this is hardly a new finding.

Stephens-Davidowitz points to a 2002 paper by Stacy Dale at Mathematica Policy Research and Princeton University's Alan B. Krueger, which found that elite colleges "tend to accept students with higher earnings capacity."

As Stephens-Davidowitz explains in the book, the researchers looked at data on thousands of high-school students: where they applied to college, where they were accepted to college, where they attended college, their family background, and their income as adults. They looked specifically at the 1995 earnings of people who were college freshmen in 1976.

Here's the simple-but-brilliant part: As Stephens-Davidowitz explains, the researchers "compared students with similar backgrounds who were accepted by the same schools but chose different ones. Some students who got into Harvard attended Penn State … These students, in other words, were just as talented, according to admissions committees, as those who went to Harvard. But they had different educational experiences."

ADVERTISEMENT

As it turns out, those two groups of students wound up with similar incomes later in life.

In 2011, the researchers studied an even larger sample — looking at the 2007 earnings of about 19,000 adults who were freshmen in 1989 — and produced similar results.

These findings are perfect examples of wannabe scientists' favorite aphorism: Correlation doesn't equal causation.

In other words: Yes, Ivy League grads do better than anyone else, but going to an Ivy League school isn't the reason why. There's a third factor — how smart and talented they are to begin with — that explains the outcome.

Or, as Stephens-Davidowitz put it in the interview with Business Insider, students at elite universities "tend to be more talented. It's not because the school added anything to them."

ADVERTISEMENT

Interestingly, however, the research found that students from low-income backgrounds did tend to benefit from attending an elite university, suggesting that "your choice of college doesn't matter" isn't a blanket statement.

FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Recommended articles

10 African countries that waste the most food in 2024

10 African countries that waste the most food in 2024

US troop withdrawal from Niger hangs in the balance

US troop withdrawal from Niger hangs in the balance

Detained Binance executives sue Nigerian authorities for human right violation

Detained Binance executives sue Nigerian authorities for human right violation

Nigeria's central bank increases minimum capital base for banks

Nigeria's central bank increases minimum capital base for banks

Sony’s creators convention redefines the creative landscape for content creators

Sony’s creators convention redefines the creative landscape for content creators

Exploring the popularity of progressive jackpot slots in Indonesia

Exploring the popularity of progressive jackpot slots in Indonesia

Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa ranked as Africa's most polluted countries in new report

Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa ranked as Africa's most polluted countries in new report

10 African countries with the lowest life expectancy according to the World Bank

10 African countries with the lowest life expectancy according to the World Bank

Kenyan women are more obese than their men - here’s why

Kenyan women are more obese than their men - here’s why

ADVERTISEMENT