Big Fish Little Pond Effect

“Big-fish-little-pond” is a concept in which students in higher-achieving schools will compare themselves with their peers and consider themselves less capable, while equally performing students in lower-achieving settings have more confidence.

A new Stanford-education study provides new evidence of “big-fish-little-pond” effect on students globally.

Following is a Quote from Malcolm Gladwell’s “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants”

“Any class, no matter how able, will always have a bottom quarter. What are the effects of the psychology of feeling average, even in a very able group? Are there identifiable types with the psychological or what-not tolerance to be ‘happy’ or to make the most of education while in the bottom quarter?” He knew exactly how demoralizing the Big Pond was to everyone but the best. To Glimp’s mind, his job was to find students who were tough enough and had enough achievements outside the classroom to be able to survive the stress of being Very Small Fish in Harvard’s Very Large Pond. Thus did Harvard begin the practice (which continues to this day) of letting in substantial numbers of gifted athletes who have academic qualifications well below the rest of their classmates. If someone is going to be cannot fodder in the classroom, the theory goes, it’s probably best if that person has an alternative avenue of fulfillment on the football field.”

Bookmark Links and Videos

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What is this effect ? Big Fish little pond >