High School as "Frog-Ponds" and the Transition to College

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 13. The Social Context of College Success

Abstract

In his seminal article, Davis (1966) found that the career decisions of male college graduates were affected the “frog-pond” phenomenon. In short, he finds that given a set level of academic achievement, the student who attends the less selective college is more likely to aspire for a high-prestige career. Because students compare themselves to their peers and adjust their aspirations accordingly, Davis (1966) argues that it may be better to be the “big fish in the little pond” rather than the “small fish in the big pond.” Drawing on this “frog pond” theory, Attewell (2001) and Espenshade, Hale and Chung (2005) found that the phenomenon operates in the case of elite college admissions; holding academic achievement constant, attending a less competitive high school improves a student’s chances of admission by improving the student’s class rank in comparison to their cohort. While insightful, this work is limited in that it only has explored the phenomenon with regards to applications and admissions to elite colleges and universities, which only serve a small percentage of all college students. In contrast, this study utilizes comprehensive data from Chicago Public Schools to understand if and how “frog-pond” effects operate in a predominantly low-income and minority school district where students tend to enroll at less-selective colleges and universities. Further, this research proposes and will evaluate the role of mechanisms that may explain any relationship between the “frog pond” phenomenon and college outcomes, particularly the allocation of guidance counselor time and attention.

Authors

• Kelly Iwanaga Becker, Northwestern University

• James Rosenbaum, Northwestern University