A short, interactive look at what 35 Kelley seniors revealed — and how you can help close the information gap.
35 senior interviews · 26 highly involved · 9 minimally involved.
Tap through to see the project in pieces instead of all at once.
Why do two equally capable Kelley students often end up with very different networks and outcomes? The short answer from the data: information, not effort.
Students who knew which workshops to apply to and when, who had a sophomore mentor, and who understood the recruiting calendar pulled ahead within two semesters. Those who didn't usually never caught up. First-gen, international, and out-of-state students were overrepresented in the "didn't know" group.
Four categories of organizations drove outsized outcomes. Common traits: selective membership, career-focused programming, mentorship, and direct recruiting ties.
Quick triage: a student saying "I want finance" needs to know about workshops (IBW, IMW) before anything else. A student saying "I want community" should look at business fraternities or the JLLC first.
A 60-second orientation to the structures students are navigating.
Quick reference for the organizations and programs referenced throughout this site.
Participants anonymized as P001–P035. Hover to pause.
Low-lift ways to incorporate the findings into your teaching, advising, and mentorship conversations.
In any Kelley course with freshmen or sophomores, a single slide or 60-second mention of "if you're considering finance/consulting/accounting/real estate, the application windows are X and Y" can materially shift student awareness. Many students interviewed only learned these timelines from older peers — by then, it was often already too late.
Ask students in office hours what clubs, workshops, or fraternities they're considering — not to pressure them, but to surface whether they even know what's available. Many don't. A two-minute conversation can redirect a trajectory that would otherwise drift for two years.
But here's the catch: most first- and second-year students only come to office hours when they're struggling academically. They don't realize they can show up just to introduce themselves, talk about career interests, or ask for general advice. Consider explicitly inviting students to visit — in your syllabus, on your first-day slides, or verbally — even when they don't have a specific question. Several interviewees said their most impactful professor relationships started from exactly this kind of low-stakes visit, and one landed a sophomore-year internship through a professor met casually in office hours.
The minimally involved students in this study were rarely "struggling" by traditional academic metrics. They often had 3.5+ GPAs and attended class reliably. The signal to watch for is isolation and vague career plans, not bad grades. These students frequently described feeling like they were "doing everything right" while still falling behind.
These students were significantly overrepresented among minimally involved interviewees. They lack the family and peer networks that transmit Kelley's informal knowledge about business fraternities, workshops, and recruiting pipelines. A direct recommendation from faculty — "you should look into the Investment Banking Workshop" — carries unusual weight for students without anyone else telling them the same thing.
BUS-T 175 (Kelley Compass) came up frequently in the interviews, with many students expressing a desire for it to go deeper and connect more directly to the involvement and recruiting landscape they'd be navigating. This reflects a small, qualitative sample and individual experiences vary — but faculty voices matter in conversations about strengthening early-career advising, integrating involvement content, and rethinking how the school onboards first- and second-year students.
This website was built specifically to reduce information asymmetry. Pointing even one uninvolved advisee toward the Path Finder, the Calendar, or the Involvements directory takes 30 seconds and can save them months of confusion. The point of this project isn't just to document the gap — it's to give underclassmen a concrete tool to close it.
Use this as a 30-second triage. Each link goes straight to the relevant page.
A sociology professor reviewing this research suggested the Kelley Bubble site could serve as a ready-made resource for UCS advisors.
UCS advisors meet with students at the exact moment this information matters most — when a freshman is choosing a major, when a sophomore is mapping a career track, or when a transfer student is trying to catch up. This site gives advisors a concrete resource to share during those conversations instead of relying on institutional memory or verbal recommendations that vary from advisor to advisor.
The Path Finder in particular was designed to work like a guided advising session — it asks students about their year, career interests, and priorities, then surfaces relevant organizations, timelines, and next steps. An advisor can walk through it with a student in 5 minutes or send them the link to complete on their own.
Freshman intake meetings: Share the Main Guide so new students understand what exists beyond the classroom before they need it.
Career exploration sessions: Use the Career Quiz as a conversation starter to help undecided students identify which track fits them.
Sophomore check-ins: Pull up the Recruitment Calendar to ensure students haven't missed critical application windows.
At-risk advising: The Involvements directory helps advisors identify low-barrier entry points for students who feel behind or disconnected.
Each of these actions takes well under an hour and has a direct impact — on students, on the research, or on the institutional conversation.
The fastest-impact action on this list. If you're advising an underclassman — especially a sophomore, a transfer, or a first-generation student — pointing them to the Path Finder and Calendar tools costs you nothing and can save them months of confusion and a year of missed opportunities.
Kelley Student Government and the Student Engagement Office have both expressed interest in hearing the findings of this research. Faculty endorsement — a short email to a dean, a willingness to sit in on a presentation, a forward to a relevant department chair — helps the research reach decision-makers who can actually act on it.
In your next advising meeting with an underclassman, ask one extra question: "Do you know what business fraternities and workshops exist, and have you considered applying?" The answer will often be "no" — and that is the opening for a two-minute conversation that can redirect a career. The research repeatedly shows that a single timely faculty recommendation can be the tipping point.
Copy-ready language. Use whichever fits the moment — each opens a door the student may not know exists.
FOR AN UNSURE FRESHMAN
"Before you pick a major, have you looked at the workshops and business fraternities? They shape your options more than your major does."
FOR A SOPHOMORE
"Recruiting for finance and consulting starts fall of sophomore year. If you're interested at all, today isn't too early to look at the calendar."
FOR A FIRST-GEN OR TRANSFER STUDENT
"A lot of Kelley's most valuable resources aren't advertised — they're passed by word of mouth. Let me point you to a few that are easy to miss."
FOR A STUDENT WHO FEELS BEHIND
"You are not behind in a way you can't fix. Let's look at what's still open this semester and what timeline makes sense for you."
No. "Business fraternities" at Kelley are co-ed, professional organizations (AKPsi, DSP, PGN, etc.) — more like honors societies than social Greek life. They focus on career development, not parties. They are separate from IU's social Greek system.
No. Kelley's 24 workshops are faculty-run academic programs taken for credit. They're application-based, faculty-supervised, and designed around placement into target recruiting tracks. They are not student clubs.
That's fine — you don't need to. Point the student to the Recruitment Calendar. The most valuable thing you can do is affirm that timelines exist and matter, not memorize them.
Yes. The final paper ("In and Out of the Kelley Bubble," Whiteman, 2026) will be available April 20. For presentations, panels, or institutional conversations, email bewhitem@iu.edu and Ben will share the paper and an accompanying slide deck.
54% of participants seriously considered transferring. 48% reported burnout. A majority described imposter syndrome. If a student in your office hours seems overwhelmed — not just behind — please point them to a support resource before (or alongside) an involvement resource.
IU CAPS: healthcenter.indiana.edu/counseling · 24/7 Crisis Line: 812-855-5711 · Kelley Student Services: HH 2010 · IU Care Team referral: studentaffairs.indiana.edu/care
Ben Whiteman is a senior Real Estate major at the Kelley School of Business, graduating May 2026. This project is his BUS-X 496 Honors Capstone, advised by Professor Stephanie Moore (Department of Business Law) and supported by a Hutton Honors College research grant.
The project was born out of Ben's own experience navigating Kelley's involvement landscape and noticing that the students who seemed to "get it" weren't necessarily smarter or harder-working than the ones who didn't — they just had better information, earlier. The research is his attempt to document that gap and help close it for the students coming next.
Questions, feedback, or a request to discuss the findings are all welcome at bewhitem@iu.edu.
Course: BUS-X 496 — Kelley Honors Capstone, Spring 2026
Faculty Advisor: Professor Stephanie Moore, Department of Business Law
IRB Status: IU Study #29569 (exempt)
Sample: 35 Kelley senior interviews (26 highly involved, 9 minimally involved), Dec 2025 – Apr 2026
Final paper due: April 20, 2026 · Download the current draft (40 pg)