PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zhu, Maria
TI  - Beyond the “Old Boys’ Network”
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.0921-11888R2
DP  - 2025 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1405--1434
VI  - 60
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/60/4/1405.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/60/4/1405.full
AB  - Research and popular discourse on social networks in higher education have focused on elite universities, even though most students do not attend such institutions. This paper sheds novel light on how classmate networks at community colleges influence job finding. Using data from a state community college system linked to matched employer–employee records, I exploit quasi-random variation in class section enrollment within courses to detect network effects. I find students are significantly more likely to get a job at a classmate’s firm later than at the firm of a peer enrolled in a different section of the same course.