When you're hiring someone, you evaluate them on a num ber of metrics, whether that's prior work experience or their work ethic. But one factor that also plays an Important role is the university they went to. But do people from elite universitios really perform better at work?
A recent study, the Harvard Business Review reports, set out to test this hy pothesis. They tested the relationship between the university rank and the performance of graduates. Looking at over 28,000 students from 294 universi tles, they observed their performance working on consulting projects for corporate clients. The 294 universities they selected ranged from anywhere between the Top 10 to top 20,000 in the Webometrics global university rankings. The competencies they were evaluated on Include not only their output but their soft and hard skills as well.
Graduates from higher ranked untversities, they found, performed better but only nominally and on some metrics. They found graduates from lower ranked universities showed an equal amount of motivation and work ethic. The overall perfor mance increased by 1.9% for every 1000 positions in the rankings. The difference between the performance of a graduate from a top university to a "global average" one was 19%, the researchers write in the Harvard Business Review.
19% may seem like a lot, but these are for people whose university rank Ings are 10,000 positions apart. In real life hiring scenarios, candidates are likely to be selected from a much smaller pool. If the university rankings differ by a couple hun dred positions, the pre dicted difference is about 1%.
However, there are also disadvan
Graduates from higher ranked universities performed better but only marginally tages to these hires. The researchers wrote, "We found that graduates from higher ranked universities tend to excessively focus on the instrumental tasks, often at the expense of paying Insufficient attention to interpersonal relationships. In some instances, graduates from top universities tend to be less friendly, are more prone to conflict, and are less likely to Identify with their team."
Why does this minimal performance gap exist? Researchers found one rea son to be that higher ranking universithes can choose from a larger pool of applicants which leads to "steeper competition and a higher quality of the Incoming class". Plus, these prestigious universities provide better training. whether that's quality of instruction to access to better facilities.
A study found the early career salaries of graduates from Top 10 colleges in the US are 47% higher than those with degrees from the 10 colleges in the City of New York school system which are ranked in the top 100. Are these gradu ates worth the higher salaries they are often given? Well, It depends on your
firm, say researchers. Hiring the right student from a lower ranked university is better ihan hiring just anyone from a higher ranking one, they say.
For more: Harvard Business Review