Gladwell exposes a hidden danger in our obsession with elite institutions: being surrounded by equally talented peers can crush confidence and derail careers. The Big Fish-Little Pond Effect demonstrates that students in the bottom third of Harvard's class abandon STEM fields at the same rate as those at less prestigious schools, despite their superior abilities. Caroline Sacks' story illustrates this perfectly—her passion for science withered at Brown University because she felt inadequate compared to her brilliant classmates. Gladwell argues, 'What matters is not just how smart you are. It's how smart you feel relative to the other people in your classroom.' This revelation challenges the assumption that attending the most prestigious institutions guarantees success, suggesting instead that relative position matters more than absolute quality. | Malcolm Gladwell | David and Goliath

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The Big Fish-Little Pond Effect: Why Prestige Can Destroy Potential

Gladwell exposes a hidden danger in our obsession with elite institutions: being surrounded by equally talented peers can crush confidence and derail careers. The Big Fish-Little Pond Effect demonstrates that students in the bottom third of Harvard's class abandon STEM fields at the same rate as those at less prestigious schools, despite their superior abilities. Caroline Sacks' story illustrates this perfectly—her passion for science withered at Brown University because she felt inadequate compared to her brilliant classmates. Gladwell argues, 'What matters is not just how smart you are. It's how smart you feel relative to the other people in your classroom.' This revelation challenges the assumption that attending the most prestigious institutions guarantees success, suggesting instead that relative position matters more than absolute quality.

-- Malcolm Gladwell