Date of Creation
5-1-2022
Degree Type
Departmental Honors Thesis - Restricted Access
First Advisor
Professor Justin Svec
Abstract
This paper investigates whether student-athletes at Holy Cross have a networking advantage with alumni over non-athletes. I conducted an experiment where I sent an identical email to alumni asking them to fill out a survey for the Economics and Accounting Department. I examined if their likelihood of responding differs depending on what kind of student sent the email by altering the introduction of the student sender. In total, there were six different email groups: female soccer player, female in Women in Economics club, female senior, male soccer player, male in Venture capital club and male senior. It was expected that alumni who participated in a varsity college sport would have a stronger affiliation towards student-athletes. The paper finds that alumni do not have a higher response rate towards athletes. However, it was discovered that female alumni respond more to females in the Women in Economic club and respond less to females on the women’s soccer team. It was also found that men did not have a bias towards any particular group. Considering the findings of this paper, there is plenty of room for further research on the networking advantage for student-athletes.
Recommended Citation
Harkins, Caroline, "Analyzing the Networking Advantages for Student-Athletes at Holy Cross" (2022). Economics and Accounting Honors Theses. 43.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/econ_honor/43