Homophily studies in higher education: Bibliometric and methodological analysis of the international literature

Homophily, the tendency of individuals to form relationships with others who are similar to themselves, has important implications for social networks and interactions in higher education settings. The networks formed under the university's educational framework, the transfer of behavior and information, and the examination of the social context in which the learning experience takes place have paved the way for research on homophily in higher education. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of research on homophily in higher education published in journals indexed in Web of Science Citation Databases (Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index) between 1991 and 2024. By searching for publications containing keywords related to homophily, higher education and learning, 46 articles were identified and analyzed using bibliometric tools and techniques. Key research areas/clusters, interdisciplinary distribution, patterns of productivity and collaboration across countries, keyword co-occurrence networks and citation networks were examined to reveal trends, influential studies, and the conceptual and intellectual structure of this research area. Using RStudio, Bibliometrix and VOSviewer to identify key trends, research areas and conceptual structures in the field, the study reveals that education, psychology and social sciences contribute a high proportion of research. The results highlight the development of homophily studies in the higher education context and provide conceptual and methodological foundation for future research on social relations, group dynamics and cultural diversity/dissent in universities.