Summary of 3 Articles

The question I’m asking for my research is whether being in a fraternity in college has any affect on your career out of college compared to men who were not in fraternities. The European Economic Review did a study called, “Peer and Social Networks in Job Search” at Dartmouth University. Their results came back and are actually pretty shocking. The graph from this study shows that men in fraternities average salary was about $15,000 greater than a student who simply got a professor’s help in obtaining the job, and $14,000 more than a student receiving no help in obtaining their job. Of all the resources that were used in obtaining jobs (alumni, relatives, etc.), men who used connections they had made through their fraternity had the highest starting salary.
In a research journal devoted to fraternity research, there was a study on leadership of men who were active members in their fraternity and who were later presidents. The surveys administered discussed different leadership qualities and how important they were to themselves and how much they were used in being a part of the fraternity. The results produces were overwhelmingly favoring the fraternity men and the leadership qualities they had. The reasons given for obtaining these qualities and why they could only be obtained in a fraternity were endless. Some of these qualities were, financial management, being responsible for thousands of dollars and managing the spending of that money for the fraternity as a whole. Another, goal setting, and leadership involved in setting goals for the fraternity for grades philanthropy and reputation of the chapter to the university and community. The study concluded that these leadership qualities were those that employers look for when hiring young people out of college and hiring people for intern ships.
In a thesis, the researcher found that the greatest connection to fraternity men and the job market is simply the network. Not only does being in a fraternity connect you with the men in your chapter, but also with the men nationwide in the same chapter, and even greater, with all the men in any fraternity. According to East Carolina University and Cornell University’s Greek Life statistics, of the 50 largest corporations in the U.S., men who belong to a fraternity run 43, and 85% of the nations executives of fortune 500 companies belong to fraternities as well. This network of men in fraternities is so large that when applying for a job, you have a very large chance of working with at least one person that belongs to a fraternity.

Marmatos, D., Sacerdote, B. "Peer and social networks in job search." European Economic Review 46.4-5 (2001): 870-879. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Kelley, D. R., "Leadership Development Through the Fraternity Experience and the Relationship to Career Success after Graduation." Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity Advisors 3.1 (2008) Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Dingemans, Jelle M.O.. "Fraternal Influences On Job Market Chances." MS Thesis, 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.

THis is a very interesting idea. I know lot's of people who agree with this and it owuld be interesting to see what the actual facts are behind it.

Adam, I agree. I know we are both apart of fraternities so we have even a greater interest in this beyond this paper. The facts actually are very supportive and yet surprising. The financial benefits as well as the network you gain is hard to argue against.

Make sure to try and show both sides to the argument it will make your paper more credible.

Rush Sigma Chi.

Adam, it is interesting you bring that up because initially I didn't do that, however I went back and did more research so that I could bring up a counter argument to show some disadvantages to the fraternity life.

Merry Christmas and Happy Sigma Nu years

I think that this is an interesting topic that I've never thought about before. Finding out the possible (positive, neutral, or negative) effects of being in a fraternity in terms of life after college is a thought-provoking subject.

I agree that this is an interesting topic that can be expanded and made into a really good idea. It will be interesting to see what evidence that you come with because i know alot of people will be interested in this.

Thanks for the support guys, I really think these findings will surprise a large amount of people due to the public perception of fraternities and their members. People from the outside will never understand the real meaning and idea of a fraternity. That is why these statistics need to be published, so thanks for the support guys!