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Learning with People Like Me: The Role of Age-Similar Peers on Online Business Course Engagement

By: Laura R. Huber, Jacqueline N. Lane and Karim R. Lakhani
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

Over the past decade, online learning has witnessed tremendous growth in popularity due to its ability to reach diverse participants in a scalable manner. However, one primary area of concern is the low course completion rates in digital platform-based learning, compared to face-to-face counterparts. Given that most education tends to be organized by age, we ask: how does the degree of age-similarity among cohort peers affect course engagement and persistence? Using a unique dataset of 17,000 working professionals enrolled in business skills training courses offered by an elite U.S. business school over a three year period, we show that age similarity has a positive effect on individual course completion: an individual’s likelihood of course completion increases by 3% for every 10 same-age cohort peers. Given that the average cohort size is 220 people, this suggests that a small threshold of same-age peers can have a substantial impact on course engagement and persistence. To examine mechanisms, we turn to participants’ motivations for taking the course and find that similar-age peers are more likely to affiliate with one another because they share a common motivation for taking the course. Our results suggest that there is an implicit trade-off between social engagement and diversity of perspectives in online courses, and that the organization and structure of online courses ought to balance both objectives.

Keywords

Homophily; Online Courses; Social Engagement; Business Skills Training; Business Education; Online Technology; Knowledge Sharing; Age

Citation

Huber, Laura R., Jacqueline N. Lane, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Learning with People Like Me: The Role of Age-Similar Peers on Online Business Course Engagement." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-072, December 2020.

About The Author

Karim R. Lakhani

Technology and Operations Management
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