Article

What's In The ‘Old Boys’ Network? Accessing Social Capital in Gendered and Racialized Networks

October 2011
Social Networks 33(4)

DOI:10.1016/j.socnet.2011.10.002

Authors:

Network processes have long been implicated in the reproduction of labor market inequality, but it remains unclear whether white male networks provide more social capital resources than female and minority networks. Analysis of nationally representative survey data reveals that people in white male networks receive twice as many job leads as people in female/minority networks. White male networks are also comprised of higher status connections than female/minority networks. The information and status benefits of membership in these old boy networks accrue to all respondents and not just white men. Furthermore, gender homophilous contacts offer greater job finding assistance than other contacts. The results specify how social capital flows through gendered and racialized networks.

Social Capital and Its Returns as an Explanation for Early Labor Market Success of Majority and Minority Members in the Netherlands

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2022
SOC INDIC RES

This paper tests whether social capital can explain differences in labor market success between ethnic majority and minority members. To overcome problems of reverse causality—labor market success is not only the result of social capital, but also leads to better networks—the focus is on adolescents who enter the labor market. Data from the ‘Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey’ are used (N = 2574) and matched to register data from Statistics Netherlands. Hypotheses are tested with structural equation models and a longitudinal approach. Two different mechanisms are tested: the capital deficit and the return deficit. Ethnic majority and minority members do not differ in social capital, thus refuting the capital deficit hypothesis. However, for majority members, the upper reachability of their social capital negatively affects chances of unemployment and positively affects chances of having a permanent contract. For minority members, no such effects were observed, indicating that the same level of social capital that benefits majorities, does not benefit minorities. More research into the return deficit minority members face is needed.

From Exception to Exceptional: How Gender and Tenure Impact Sponsor Effectiveness

Article

Jul 2022

The critical role that referrals play in the hiring process, particularly for candidates contending with negative stereotypes and biases, is well documented. However, how those stereotypes and biases impact sponsors, and the effectiveness of the referrals that they provide, is not well understood. Drawing on evidence of reversals of gender bias, we explore the impact of sponsors’ gender and tenure on the effectiveness of their referrals in the context of U.S. Supreme Court law clerk hiring decisions. This is an appropriate setting because success in the application process for these elite early career positions is contingent on having a strong recommendation from a judge with which the candidate has previously worked, making it ideal to study gender differences in the effectiveness of referrals. Analyses show candidates recommended by male sponsors are more likely to be hired compared to those recommended by female sponsors overall, but this dynamic is also dependent on the sponsor’s tenure and the candidate’s gender. For female sponsors, higher levels of tenure are associated with better hiring outcomes for their female candidates only. All other gender combinations do not benefit from sponsor seniority. Possible mechanisms, limitations, and implications for future research directions are discussed.

Networked solidarity economy: Gender in interorganizational networks. An evaluation with ERGMs

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022

For their economic success, organizations in the social economy are particularly dependent on access to collective resources through interorganizational networks. Because self-organised network governance of an economy is notoriously intransparent, there is the danger that existing societal inequalities get replicated particularly well. This creates a tension with the equality-promoting mission of these organizations. This paper investigates the degree to which the goal of gender equality has been realized in the social economy of Barcelona. By analysing networks of advice-seeking and economic collaboration with exponential random graph models, network mechanisms are analysed to estimate gender-based inequality.

Networks in Migration Processes

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Michael Eve

Much of the work on the networks of migrants and their descendants concentrates mainly on the ethnicity of the persons in the network; however, if we are interested in the way networks reinforce ethnic inequalities or foster social mobility, other dimensions may be at least as important as the ethnic composition. In this chapter I describe how migration itself, rather than ethnic identification, shapes social networks. Even in times of electronic communication, space has effects on social relationships, for many social transactions (from child care to commensality) fundamental for maintaining social relationships are difficult or impossible at a distance. Migration is age-selective and this has effects on ties formed in the place of immigration. Labour migration has strong effects on the neighbourhoods migrant families end up in, and these in turn affect the schools their children go to and who they play with outside the home. Most migration is class-selective, forming networks more class-homogeneous in the place of immigration than in the place of departure. So a series of factors linked specifically to ‘the migration process’ have structural effects on the social networks of migrants and their descendants. In this chapter I draw on studies of internal and international migration to show that these effects are important even where citizenship is not at issue. I argue that there are, in fact, marked similarities in the networks of internal and international labour migrants, for example, in the tendency (under certain conditions) to form networks made up primarily of persons from the same place of origin. So I suggest that “the migration process” may affect migrants’ social networks as much as ethnic dynamics. And that this throws light on the social mechanisms behind the forms of inequality documented in many migration contexts. Drawing on qualitative interviews with different types of (internal and international) migrants, I show that the initial social ties used to achieve one’s transfer from one place to another (e.g. a classic migration chain, or professional contacts) have lasting effects, and that these explain some differences between the networks formed by “skilled” and “unskilled” migrants (more work-based in the former case, more kin-based in the latter). I also show how the networks formed by children of migrants are shaped by the specific conditions (net of class) of labour migration.

Early-Career Academics’ Transnational Moves: The Gendered Role of Vertical Social Ties in Obtaining Academic Positions Abroad

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Martine Schaer

Moving across borders to take up academic positions is one form of occupational mobility (or migration), one that is often presented as constitutive of an academic career. Drawing on biographical and qualitative egocentric network interviews with early-career academics working in Switzerland and the United States, this chapter shows that the transnational career moves of young scholars are embedded in social relationships in subtle ways. The analysis reveals that it is mainly one type of social tie that is important: vertical ties with higher-status academics. But the support these ties provide varies according to discreet and inconspicuous gendered mechanisms in which institutional resources also play a role. On the one hand, traces of strong male support networks persist in obtaining transnational academic positions. On the other, the digitalisation of academic labour-markets, fellowship schemes, and dual-career support make it possible to advance in one’s academic career while relegating vertical ties to a secondary role.

Epilogue: Where Did Weak and Strong Ties Go Wrong?

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Maurice Crul

In this volume, both qualitative and quantitative scholars describe their findings on the networks of migrants and their descendants and explore the content of their social ties for educational and labor market success in seven European countries. Some contributions cover decades of work in this field, making this one of most comprehensive books on this topic, both theoretically and empirically. Almost without exception, the authors, although describing various ethnic groups, different geographical and professional contexts and different time periods, are critical of a number of the main arguments about the networks of migrants developed in the field of migration studies. Central in their critique is the question about the importance of co-ethnic or inter-ethnic ties and networks, and their importance to enter the labor market and move up. In the field of migration studies, concepts like integration and assimilation have greatly influenced the thinking of its scholars. The idea that newcomers only become fully integrated in a society when they gain a similar economic position and are in contact with people without migration background, or, in other words, become part of the mainstream, has been a strong and dominant view in our field (Alba & Nee, 2003; Alba, 2009; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001; Portes & Zhou, 1993). People who largely interact with co-ethnics and or work in labor market sectors that are dominated by co-ethnics (ethnic niches) are usually seen as not (yet) fully integrated into their new society. And when this also translates to the native-born children (so-called ‘second generation decline’), this is seen as problematic (Ganz, 1992). In this broader framework on integration and assimilation, Granovetter’s (1973) idea of strong and weak ties has entered the field of migration studies. Lang and Schneider, in this volume, rightly state that it is questionable whether the idea of strong ties – for co-ethnics – and weak ties – for ties with people without migration background – was originally intended by Granovetter to be used in this way. But what is clear, however, is that this idea fitted perfectly with broader theories on integration and assimilation. The importance for newly arrived migrants of strong co-ethnic ties in ethnic networks is generally considered one of the starting pieces of the puzzle laying out the process of assimilation in its first phase. The idea of weak ties, also in its symbolic emphasis on ‘weak’, perfectly suited the still scarce and superficial contacts with people of native descent in the early stages of the assimilation process. Since the concept of weak and strong ties fitted so well with the dominant theories about integration and assimilation (classical, neo and new assimilation), much of what was happening with migrants, and even their descendants, in the labor market was seen through, what many would call, an ethnic lens (Crul, 2016; Dahinden, 2016; Wimmer, 2013). Migrants gained a first foothold in the labor market through strong co-ethnic ties and were slowly moving up through their weak ties, making use of information and resources of people of native descent with whom they had only superficial contact. The idea of strong ties also resonated with the notion that their relations with co-ethnics were more meaningful and profound. There was also a dark side to strong ties. Under some conditions, because of the limited information and resources in the co-ethnic network, for some the strong ties could lead to an ethnic mobility trap.

Access to Employment of the Second Generations in France: Unequal Role of Family and Personal Networks by Origins and Gender

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Yaël Brinbaum

Using data from the Trajectories and Origins survey (TeO), this chapter investigates the role of networks in access to employment of descendants of immigrants in France. I compare the recruitment channels and the type of networks used by various origin groups and the majority population. And I analyse the determinants of obtaining a job through family ties or personal networks, disentangling the effects of origin from other individual characteristics, and the nature of the job obtained. I show that the use of networks – and the kind of networks - to get jobs varies by origin groups and by gender. Within-group differences exist also according to education, family background and place of residence, as well as by sector of employment. Controlling for similar characteristics, family ties play help descendants of migrants from Turkey to get a job, and to a lesser extent, descendants from Portugal. This helps explain ethnic segregation and the quality of the jobs of these groups. Descendants of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and from North Africa were less likely to obtain less their job through networks. This is especially true for women, who compensate by using more formal methods. These groups would need stronger networks or intermediaries to provide trusted information to employers and reduce discrimination and racism. This chapter thus contributes to a better understanding of the inequalities faced by various origin groups in the French labour market.

Are “Weak Ties” Really Weak? Social Capital Reliance Among Second Generation Turkish Lawyers in Paris

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

The chapter studies social capital development and application among highly educated Turkish second generation working in the law sector in Paris. Previously we have demonstrated how social capital was a crucial resource in the professional pathways of Turkish second generation lawyers in Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Germany. In this chapter we take our inquiry a step further analyzing the strong and weak ties that descendants of migrants relied upon in their professional pathways. We use biographical interviews conducted with descendants of migrants in France in which they explicate their entire educational and professional trajectories. We concentrate on Turkish second generation with low-educated parents hence young people who did not receive direct professional resources from their parents. We see for this group the development of professional networks already begins in tertiary education and continues into their labour market careers. The paper aims to make contributions to several strands of the literature. Firstly, it contributes to the debate on temporality of networks by showing how distinct forms of social capital became crucial in different phases of their careers and how they relied on both weak and strong ties strategically to overcome the glass ceilings in their sectors and move upwards in their pathways. Secondly, we aim to problematize the concepts of “strong” and “weak” ties in relation to their ethnic connotations. Our study shows that second generation lawyers were able to develop relations of trust with their so-called “weak ties” while the ethnic “strong ties” represented useful clientele.

Activating Social Capital: Steep Mobility of Descendants of Turkish Immigrants at the Top of the Corporate Business Sector

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

This qualitative study on steep social mobility is based on interviews with descendants of guest-worker immigrants from Turkey. They currently work in highly prestigious positions in the field of professional business services in the Netherlands. The majority of studies on social capital and career mobility is based on quantitative methods which makes it difficult to gain insight into its mechanisms. In line with Lin (Annu Rev Sociol 25:467–487, 1999) and Smith (Am J Sociol 111:1–57, 2005) the current article makes the distinction between the access to and the activation of social capital. By explaining how the professional characteristics of the social climbers triggered their network connections to become ‘donors’ (Portes A, Annu Rev Sociol 24:1–24, 1998), we attempt to shed light on the mechanisms of social capital activation. For this claim we apply the concepts of ‘likeability’ and ‘reliability’. Furthermore, we categorize two types of donors that have emerged from our data: ‘ambassadors’ and ‘coaches’. By comprehending how the descendants of migrants activated their social capital, this article gives insight into the mechanisms of their steep social mobility, and it deepens our understanding of the relation between social capital and career mobility.

Introduction: Revisiting Networks: Setting the Conceptual and Methodological Scene

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

This chapter presents an overview of how migrant networks have been researched and theorised. In so doing, we highlight some persistent gaps in knowledge about how migrants, and their descendants, forge networks and generate particular kinds of resources, especially in accessing the labour market and developing careers, and we explain how the chapters of this book tackle these issues. By looking not only at migrants but also at the second generation, we reflect on opportunities, but also enduring inequalities, and the ways in which networks may be mobilised to support employment strategies across different sectors and in different European countries. The chapter discusses the importance of disentangling social capital and social networks. Relatedly, we discuss the need to look beyond the ethnic lens and simple binaries of ‘bonding’ versus ‘bridging’ capital, to explore how ties to different kinds of actors, in varied social positions, may facilitate or indeed hinder career development. Referring to new empirical data and theoretically informed analysis, in the various chapters of this book, we build upon but also complicate understanding of ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ ties, not as fixed ties, but rather as a continuum of dynamic relationships that may ebb and flow over time. In the concluding section, we highlight the contribution of this book and also consider the need for further cross-fertilisation of conceptual and empirical innovations beyond migration studies to avoid a silo-effect in social network research.

Reciprocity Within Migrant Networks: The Role of Social Support for Employment

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Başak Bilecen

This chapter investigates the ways in which migrants’ perceive and mobilize their social relationships to enter into the labor market. Previous literature has ample evidence on the importance of social ties for migrants to find a job usually studying the received job information while underlining ethnicity of ties as if it is the only aspect that matters in the labor market. Going beyond those debates, this chapter argues that not only receiving information on jobs, but also being embedded in a supportive network in other realms such as care is equally significant in explaining the labor market positions of international migrants and their descendants. To this end, based on a qualitative personal network analysis with international migrants and migrant descendants from Turkey living in Germany, this chapter illustrates how such supportive resources are being exchanged in networks as well as their meanings for migrants’ labor market (non-)participation. After all, studying those migrants who found paid employment via their social ties is only one part of the explanation overlooking other factors such as support they receive or (expected to) give.

The Direct and Indirect Role of Migrants’ Networks in Accessing Diverse Labour Market Sectors: An Analysis of the Weak/Strong Ties Continuum

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Louise Ryan

Much has been written about how migrants may utilise social networks to access jobs. Nevertheless, gaps remain in our understanding of how skills, labour market sectors, education level, language proficiency, etc. may influence the relationship between network ties and employment opportunities. Moreover, it is important to adopt a temporal perspective to understand change over time (Ryan L, D’Angelo A, Soc Netw 53:148–158, 2018). Strategies adopted to initially access the labour market, in a new destination, may differ from how employment seeking trajectories develop as migrants become more familiar with local contexts and gain relevant work-experience. This chapter draws upon interviews with diverse migrants, in London, across varied public and private sectors jobs. Beyond a simple binary of strong versus weak ties, I build upon my analytical framework (Ryan L, Sociol Rev , 59(4):707–724, 2011; Ryan L, Sociol Rev, 64(4):951–969, 2016), I explore the relationships within ties, the flow of resources and the relative social location of the actors vertically and horizontally. In so doing, this chapter aims to contribute to understanding migrant networks in three key ways. (1) How migrants’ networks operate both directly and indirectly in job seeking strategies and career development. (2) How the role of networks may differ across varied labour market sectors. (3) How weak and strong ties can be conceptualised as a continuum of dynamic relationships.

Context Matters: The Varying Roles of Social Ties for Professional Careers of Immigrants’ Descendants

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Research on social networks of immigrants and their descendants usually starts from the distinction between ‘ethnic’ ties and ties to members of the population without migration background. In migration studies ‘ethnic’ ties are repeatedly associated with ‘strong ties’, whereas ‘weak ties’ – that are found to be essential for the access to jobs in the wider society – are associated with contacts to members of the ‘majority population’. Building on existing criticism of this narrowing dichotomy and looking at upward social mobility careers of immigrants’ descendants we question this group-related understanding of weak and strong ties. Examining professional trajectories of immigrants’ descendants in Germany, this chapter suggests shifting the focus to occupational contexts in order to understand better how and why different types of social ties can play an important role for their professional mobility. We argue that both the quality of ties and their ‘ethnic dimension’ are dependent on the occupational context with its specific institutionalized modes of access and recruitment. Moreover, different forms of ‘ethnic’ or ‘cross-ethnic’ ties develop a changing significance in the course of a career and over time; this makes it necessary to also look at the dynamics in careers and the occupational contexts. The chapter compares the role of social ties for the inclusion into two occupational fields: law and public administration. It draws on interviews with (mainly Turkish) immigrants’ descendants working in these sectors. While in the law sector mainly ‘weak ties’, which had been built up during university studies and in the course of later careers, proved important, in public administration ‘strong ties’ to relatives and friends were most crucial for the access to jobs. In both sectors, we can observe that ties to ‘co-ethnics’ become increasingly relevant for professional careers as people of immigrant descent gradually achieve higher positions.

Beyond Colleagues: Women Leaders and Work Relationships

Article

Oct 2018

Sherwin Davidson

Framed by the Stone Center's relational-cultural theory (Fletcher, 2007), which proposes that mutual growth occurs through connection, this qualitative exploratory study examines relationships with women colleagues that contribute to the quality of women's leadership experiences in higher education. Women leaders are affected by gendered organizational culture and by stereotypes of leadership that are predominantly male. They also face contradictions concerning their relationships with each other. Women are perceived to be relationally-oriented and socially responsive, but also back-biting and competitive; expected to show relational skills, but with no acknowledgement of what their skills contribute to organizations; expected to practice solidarity but also perceived as "queen bees." In the face of these contradictions, interviews with 15 women in leadership at five U.S. universities illuminate the character and contributions of select relationships that women leaders themselves identify as contributing factors to the quality of their leadership experiences. Ten benefits, which accrue both to the women and their institutions, emerged. Two of these benefits are: (1) strategizing and problem-solving; and (2) clarity of ideas, knowledge, and perspective. The benefits loosely align with the five positive outcomes associated with the Stone Center's relational-cultural model. Results offer alternative ways to think about women leaders' work-related relationships, recasting the usually invisible skills women bring to them as skills critical to enhancing their leadership, beneficial to the organization, and a means of challenging the status quo of gendered institutional culture. Keywords: women, leadership, colleagues, relational-cultural theory, support, friendship, work relationships

Reaching Into the Dark Side of Organisations: The Banality and Emergence of Administrative Evil in the Light of Two Case Examples SJPA 26(2)

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022

This article uses the tools and distinctions derived from a twofold analysis to develop and refine the perception of administrative evil. First, the general problem of evil is discussed and nuanced, and second, two case examples from the Finnish context are examined and explained – the notion of so-called old boys’ networks and the case of unethical behaviour in a psychiatric hospital. The article defines administrative evil as actions by civil servants and government employees when they do what they are expected to do to fulfil their organisational roles and responsibilities without considering or recognising that they are engaging in or contributing to evil. Based on a conceptual analysis, the article suggests that administrative evil is a middle form between moral and natural evil. This view yields a solid basis for further analysis in which the concept of the banality of evil – as introduced by Hannah Arendt – provides valuable insights. The article is based upon the conviction that the concept of administrative evil offers explanatory power to understand and describe why and how people behave badly and even unethically in organisational contexts. In doing so, the article connects the concept of administrative evil to organisational studies and links the concept with the distinction between types of evil. The paper concludes that a major problem in theorising administrative evil is that the concept (as advanced by Adams and Balfour) has remained isolated and is not an organic part of modern organisation theory.

The Role of Parents’ Native and Migrant Contacts on the Labour Market in the School-to-Work Transition of Adolescents in Germany

Article

Full-text available

May 2022

This study investigates how parents’ native and migrant contacts in the German labour market affect the likelihood of children obtaining a company-based apprenticeship [dual vocational education and training (VET)] after lower secondary education. Furthermore, it assesses the extent to which characteristics of parents’ social networks explain ethnic inequalities in this school-to-work transition. Using longitudinal data from Starting Cohort 4 (ninth-graders) of the National Educational Panel Study, we show that the number of migrant contacts in parents’ networks does not affect the outcome of adolescents’ apprenticeship search. This applies to both migrant and native adolescents. However, if parents have many native contacts, the chances of adolescents obtaining a company-based apprenticeship increases in both groups. In addition, controlling for the composition of parents’ networks substantially reduces the gap between natives and migrants in the transition to dual VET. Further analyses show that this is mainly due to differences in the number of native labour market contacts between native and migrant parents. Our findings indicate that differences in parents’ endowment with labour market relevant social capital constitute yet another hurdle for immigrant children in the transition from school to working life.

Can We Talk? An Exploratory Study of Gender and Network Ties in a Local Government Setting

Preprint

Full-text available

Feb 2022

We explore the influence of gender and formal organizational status on the formation of discussion ties. Network data, gathered through surveying employees from a municipal organization in the United States, garnered a 92% response rate (n=143). Results of exponential random graph modeling indicate women supervisors are more likely to send discussion ties, while women in general are more likely to receive discussion ties. These exploratory results suggest women may be perceived as more approachable for work discussions, but not as supervisors. Finally, the results identified a consistent homophily effect of gender in the discussion network.

Career orientations of women in Russia: The kaleidoscope career model

Article

Jan 2021

Daria Khasieva

The gender composition of the labor force has changed significantly due to the emergence of a number of new social and economic trends in most countries. Russia is no exception. Nowadays women constitute almost half of the workforce in Russia what emphasizes the importance of understanding their career expectations and professional development paths. Historically, career research was based on investigation of professional activities of men, which did not provide opportunities to objectively assess gender-specific factors affecting the career path of women significantly. The purpose of the study is to identify the characteristics of women's career paths and the features of career orientations, to assess the impact of gender-specific barriers, and to analyze the existing practices used by organizations in Russia to support working women. The kaleidoscope career model is applied as an evaluation tool. The results of the study show that there is a high level of orientation to challenge and authenticity among working women in Russia, a low level of influence of gender-specific stereotypes, as well as an insufficient development of practices directed towards professional development of women in the Russian companies. The conclusions made in the paper present an important addition to the knowledge about the contextual specificity of women's careers and can be employed in the development of effective women-oriented human resource management systems.

Joined by remoteness: An exploratory comparison of regional board networks in Sweden

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021

Studies of the global corporate elite have shown how networks of board interlocks form among large companies around the world. With interest in the conditions for businesses in the periphery, this exploratory study describes differences in regional board networks by comparing remote and central regions in Sweden. The regions share national culture, language and legislation and have similar demographics. We study business contexts far from the international spotlight and include all companies, not just the very largest, to capture the diversity of geographically dispersed business communities in Sweden. Findings suggest that being peripheral in a geographical sense can prove beneficial in terms of board network structure. The regional board networks in the remote regions are more inclusive and less fragmented, thus showing structural characteristics associated with the more effective spread of information. The regional networks formed in the geographic periphery thus appear to be beneficial for business. The findings in this exploratory story indicate that companies in the geographic periphery can be joined by remoteness.

Can We Talk? An Exploratory Study of Gender and Network Ties in a Local Government Setting

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2023
Rev Publ Person Admin

We explore the influence of gender and formal organizational status on the formation of discussion ties. Network data, gathered through surveying employees from a municipal organization in the United States, garnered a 92% response rate ( n = 143). Results of exponential random graph modeling indicate women supervisors are more likely to send discussion ties, while women in general are more likely to receive discussion ties. These exploratory results suggest women may be perceived as more approachable for work discussions, but not as supervisors. Finally, the results identified a consistent homophily effect of gender in the discussion network.

Reynsla stjórnarkvenna af forystuhæfni, tengslaneti og stuðningi við konur til að gegna forstjórastöðu

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Þrátt fyrir ýmsar formlegar og kerfislægar framfarir á undanförnum árum til þess að jafna kynjamun hér á landi, eru aðeins þrjár konur forstjórar í skráðum félögum árið 2022, á móti 19 körlum. Tvær þeirra voru forstjórar sinna félaga er þau voru skráð á markað, en Ásta S. Fjeldsted var ráðin forstjóri í skráðu félagi þann 7. september 2022, eftir auglýsingu. Nýleg rannsókn hér á landi leiddi í ljós upplifun stjórnarkvenna skráðra félaga af valdaleysi og skorti á fagmennsku í tengslum við ráðningar forstjóra. Samkvæmt fyrri rannsóknum snýr forystuhæfni forstjóra sem tengist fjárhagslegum árangri fyrirtækja einkum að staðfestu, félagslegri færni og auðmýkt, en fáar rannsóknir varpa ljósi á mat á forystuhæfni kvenna til þess að gegna æðstu stjórnunarstöðum. Þessi rannsókn beinir sjónum að upplifun stjórnarkvenna, sem sitja í stjórnum allra skráðra félaga hér á landi, af mati á forystuhæfni kvenna til þess að gegna forstjórastöðum í skráðum félögum, og af áhrifum tengslanets og stuðnings við konur á ferli og útkomu ráðninga í forstjórastöður í skráðum félögum. Tekin voru viðtöl við 22 konur sem eiga sæti í stjórnum allra skráðra félaga á Íslandi og rannsóknarspurningin sem lagt var upp með er: Hver er reynsla stjórnarkvenna í skráðum félögum af því hvað hefur áhrif á mat á hæfni kvenna til að gegna starfi forstjóra í skráðu félagi? Niðurstöðurnar sýna að stjórnarkonur telja konur hæfar til að gegna forstjórastöðunni, en þegar til ráðninga forstjóra skráðra félaga kemur eru þær þó ekki ráðnar til starfanna þar sem áhrif karla, tengslanet og íhaldssamar staðalímyndir af forystuhæfni kvenna og árangursríkri forystu virðast ráða ákvörðunum, og þar með aukast líkur á því að horft sé fram hjá hæfum konum við forstjóraval. Í niðurstöðunum felast skilaboð um tækifæri fyrir stjórnir skráðra félaga til þess að auka gæði ráðninga forstjóra og jafna kynjamun með auknum fjölbreytileika og með því að miða ráðningarnar við árangursríka hæfni til forystu.

Essays on Social Networks

Thesis

May 2022

Yu Yang Tony To

This thesis consists of three essays on the economics of social networks. It broadly deals with understanding the value of social connections on favour exchange and information exchange. Social networks facilitate trust, learning, and communication, all crucial in the modern online environment. Examining the effects of network structure provides new tools and insights on decision-making and behaviour. Chapter 1 develops a model of repeated favour exchange on social networks where individuals choose between allocating the opportunity to the expert (market action) or a friend (favouritism action). Assuming favouring a friend reduces one’s payoff, favouritism cannot be sustained in a stage game. However, by introducing a grim-trigger strategy where a selective group of individuals favour each other, favouritism can be sustained in an infinitely repeated game. In particular, the maximum clique of the network defines favouritism behaviour that is coalition-proof where no group of individuals have incentives to deviate collectively. While aggregate surplus increases with network connectivity, it decreases with the number of favouritism-practising agents. Additionally, favouritism exacerbates payoff inequality that arises from degree inequality: Favouritism players cooperate to extract a large portion of the aggregate surplus at the expense of market players, creating a negative externality on the economy. Chapter 2 conducts an experiment to study the impact of network structure on opinion formation. At the start, subjects observe a private signal and then make a guess. In subsequent periods, subjects observe their neighbours’ guesses before guessing again. Inspired by empirical research, we consider three canonical networks: Erdös-Rényi, Stochastic Block and Royal Family. We find that a society with ‘influencers’ is more likely to arrive at an incorrect consensus and that one with ‘network homophily’ is more likely to persist with diverse beliefs. These aggregate patterns are consistent with individuals following a DeGroot updating rule. Chapter 3 studies incentives for verifying information in social networks. Agents derive value from sharing correct information and suffer a reputational loss from sharing false information. So agents can undertake costly verification prior to sharing information. We show incentives for verification are increasing in degree. This implies that information quality is increasing in average degree and is higher in more egalitarian networks. We then introduce an external agent whose goal is to maximise views through a choice of news source accuracy. We find that denser networks lead to higher accuracy when information accuracy is either expensive or cheap, and sparse networks lead to more accurate information otherwise.

LAÇOS INVISÍVEIS E IDENTIDADE EM PROFISSÕES DOMINADAS POR ESTEREÓTIPOS DE GÊNERO

Conference Paper

Jan 2022

The Economics of Gender in China: Women, Work and the Glass Ceiling

Book

Full-text available

Aug 2022

Sisi Sung

China's rapid socio-economic development has achieved remarkable equalizing conditions between men and women in the aspects of health, education and labor force participation, but the glass ceiling phenomenon has become more prominent. The book develops a cross-disciplinary paradigm, with economics at its core, to better understand gender in China and women in management in the Chinese business context.

Group mixing drives inequality in face-to-face gatherings

Article

Full-text available

May 2022

Uncovering how inequality emerges from human interaction is imperative for just societies. Here we show that the way social groups interact in face-to-face situations can enable the emergence of disparities in the visibility of social groups. These disparities translate into members of specific social groups having fewer social ties than the average (i.e., degree inequality). We characterize group degree inequality in sensor-based data sets and present a mechanism that explains these disparities as the result of group mixing and group-size imbalance. We investigate how group sizes affect this inequality, thereby uncovering the critical size and mixing conditions in which a critical minority group emerges. If a minority group is larger than this critical size, it can be a well-connected, cohesive group; if it is smaller, minority cohesion widens inequality. Finally, we expose group under-representation in degree rankings due to mixing dynamics and propose a way to reduce such biases. The emergence of inequality in social interactions can depend on a number of factors, among which the intrinsic attractiveness of individuals, but also group size the presence of pre-formed social ties. Here, the authors propose “social attractiveness” as a mechanism to account for the emergence of inequality in face-to-face social dynamics and show this reproduces real-world gathering data, predicting the existence of a critical group size for the minority group below which higher cohesion among its members leads to higher inequality.

Economic Inequality and Power Imbalance in the United States: The Role of Globalization

Article

Full-text available

May 2022

Social inequality has become a challenging social phenomenon in many advanced countries lately. Individuals are affected by social divisions of race, gender, economic, cultural, and political structures. Among these social divisions, income and power inequality have become the major political preoccupation in most developed countries. In the United States, income disparity between the upper and middle classes has been increasing for several decades. While the top 1% earners who contributed to 10% of the U.S. national income in 1980 increased to 20% in 2016, the bottom 50% earners who contributed to 20% of national income in 1980 decreased to 13% in 2016. There have been several interpretations of this phenomenon but from a globalization point of view. This study, therefore, seeks to explore the phenomenon from a globalization standpoint. Using intersectionality as the theoretical framework, this paper explains how various social constructs (e.g., race, gender) intersect in a globalized economy to create income and power disparities. The researcher adopts a systematic literature review approach to identify gaps, contradictions, inconsistencies, interpretations, and connections in the literature relative to the phenomenon being explored. The findings will significantly add to the scholarly literature on socioeconomic inequality and provide meaningful recommendations to improve U.S. social policies. Keywords: Globalization, Intersectionality, Social Class, Inequality, and Power.

Influence of Informal Institutions on Commitment to Customer Service in Confucian Asia

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2022
MANAGE DECIS

Purpose Research on the commitment to customer service (CCS) typically considers either trainable behavior or external stimuli such as financial incentives vital to CCS. Utilizing the cultural context of Confucian Asia, this study proposes a novel approach that shifts the focus towards the antecedents of the informal institutional environment. Design/methodology/approach This research considers four informal institutions typical for Confucian Asia about their influence on CCS: power distance, perceived individual independence, openness to change, and informal network ties. Hypotheses are tested in a structural equation model using data obtained from a South Korean subject pool. Findings Results show that informal institutions like power distance and network ties, and mediators like perceived individual independence and openness to change are positively related to CCS. Power distance and network ties also have a direct positive effect on openness to change. Moreover, power distance negatively affects perceived individual independence. Research limitations/implications The authors' findings contribute to the service management literature by showing that a given CCS of service employees can be explained by antecedents of the company's informal institutional environment. Practical implications From a human resource perspective, the informal institutional environment should be taken into account when establishing a supporting organizational culture and designing management training programs. Originality/value This research introduces the institutional view to services management research, focusing on the role that informal institutions play. In particular, factors like power distance and network ties that influence CCS are tested for the first time.

Women may be climbing on board, but not in first class: A long-term study of the factors affecting women's board participation in Argentina and Chile (1923-2010)

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022
BUS HIST

The literature about women’s roles in corporate structure does not provide clear, systemic, integrative answers to fundamental questions such as which factors shape board gender composition and women’s roles in business and corporate networks? With the intention to help overcome this gap in the literature, this paper examines the dynamics of women’s access to corporate boards for more than a century in Argentina and Chile. It focuses on critical factors that affect the fluctuating, nonlinear recruitment patterns that have led to the incorporation of women in these two countries during the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. We analyse a diverse range of institutional, organisational, and individual factors that have opened women’s access to the boards of Argentina’s and Chile’s largest corporations. The study establishes that Argentina has progressed into a more fragmented corporate network than Chile, which may have facilitated women’s access to boards. However, and even if, little by little, a combination of factors has opened some space for women in the corporate power elite, they primarily remain in marginalised positions in networks. Taken together, these findings show that it is important to consider not only the number and the timing but also the nature of women’s integration into corporate boards and high-ranking positions. This issue is particularly relevant because Argentina and Chile have not enacted regulations to mandate minimum levels of board diversity during the period under analysis.

The film festival sector and its networked structures of gender inequality

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022

The global film industry is shaped by gender inequality. Women are structurally underrepresented in professional roles that include high levels of creative and economic decision-making power, such as directors, writers, and producers. In our study, we ask to what extent the film festival sector, a prestigious sub-field of the film industry, is structured by gender biases. To address this question, we conceptualize the festival sector as a one-mode network consisting of film festivals that are connected through screening the same film, and as a two-mode network consisting of films and festivals. The composition of film core creative teams (incl. directors, writers, and producers) varies by gender. While some films are made by mixed gender core creative teams, others are made by women-only or men-only core creative teams. We use data on 1323 films that circulate among 1523 festivals and apply network analysis to describe and disentangle the structural facets that underlie persistent gender inequality in the film festival sector. In the first step, we analyze to what extent the one-mode film festival network is connected through the circulation of films with varying gender compositions, and what festivals occupy broker positions in this network. In the second step, we analyze to what extent films of different gender compositions are equally distributed across the overall festival landscape. For the first step, we find that the festival network connected through films by women-only core creative teams is much sparser in comparison to the network connected through films by men-only core creative teams. We also find that the majority of festivals obtaining important broker positions in the network, has not signed the 5050 × 2020 Gender Parity Pledge, which has important policy implications. For the second step, we find that films by men-only core creative teams are on average screened at more festivals as compared to films by women-only core creative teams, and that the degree of distribution of films by men-only core creative teams is much more skewed indicating a more pronounced festival hit dynamic.

An integrated conceptual framework of the glass ceiling effect

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022

Purpose This study aims to undertake an in-depth analysis of glass ceiling literature and suggest some directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of the glass ceiling literature was carried out using academic databases like Scopus, EbscoHost and Proquest. Findings Social and cultural stereotypes give rise to individual barriers in the form of lack of selfconfidence and lack of ambition for managerial posts. Social norms also create organizational barriers in the form of “think manager think male” stereotype and discriminatory corporate policies. These organizational barriers further lower the self-confidence of women and exaggerate work-family conflict. Policy barriers in the form of lack of stringent laws and policies also create glass ceiling for women employees. Glass ceiling leads to various consequences which have been further classified as organizational and individual level consequences. The study also highlights that contextual variables like level of education, age, social class, marital and motherhood status influence the perceptions towards the role of different factors in creating glass ceiling. Practical implications This review highlights that though several levels of barriers exist for women aspiring for a managerial position, the main problem lies in conscious and unconscious stereotypes that often find their way in the organizations through gendered culture and gender discriminatory corporate practices. Therefore, organizations should firstly work on reorienting the attitudes of its employees towards women employees by conducting gender sensitization programmes for all the employees at the workplace. These gender sensitization programmes should aim at making people aware about the unconscious stereotypes that somehow find way in their speech and actions. Secondly, the organizations should work on extending the family friendly programmes to every employee irrespective of gender and every one should be encouraged to avail those policies so that female employees do not suffer from bias due to lack of visibility. Thirdly, organizations should work on introducing scientific procedures for performance evaluation to ensure removal of any form of bias during the process of appraisal. By creating a positive and equitable work environment for women employees, firms can combat their feelings of stress and burnout and can significantly improve their bottomline. The positive steps that will be taken by organizations will put forward a positive example for the society as well. Originality/value Even though more than three decades have passed since the term “glass ceiling” made inroads in the management literature, till date, there has been no study that holistically reviews various dimensions of glass ceiling literature. Hence, this is the first study that systematically reviews the existing literature on glass ceiling. Based on the review, the study also proposes an integrated conceptual framework highlighting interrelationship between various causes and consequences of glass ceiling and sheds light on the directions along which future studies can be carried out.

Relationship building and minority business growth: Does participating in activities sponsored by institutional intermediaries help?

Article

Jan 2022
J BUS RES

Historically, minority businesses have faced barriers to growth in mainstream U. S. markets. Institutional intermediaries have emerged as a low-cost solution. They help minority businesses access large, established corporate members. They provide training designed to improve long-term viability by enhancing internal management skills and processes within minority businesses. Drawing on social capital theory and using an online survey, we examine 113 minority businesses affiliated with a regional council of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). We find that their selective participation in different types of intermediary-sponsored activities influences their relationships with corporate and other minority members, although to different degrees. Moreover, we find that government contracting experience strengthens how relationship building with corporate members affects their growth. Compared to Hispanic and Asian minority businesses, African American minority businesses experience higher growth from relationship building with other minority members.

Bridging Boundaries? The Effect of Genetic Ancestry Testing on Ties across Racial Groups

Article

Jan 2022

The phenomenon of widespread genetic ancestry testing has raised questions about its social impact, particularly on issues of race. Some accounts suggest testing can promote bridging social capital-connections between racial groups. In this multi-method paper, we ask whether (1) taking genetic ancestry tests (GATs) and (2) receiving results of African, Asian, or Native American ancestry increases network racial diversity for White Americans. We use a randomized controlled trial of 802 White, non-Hispanic Americans, half of whom received GATs. Unexpected findings show that test-takers' network racial diversity decreases after testing. Using 58 follow-up interviews, we develop and test a possible theory , finding initial evidence that test-takers' network racial diversity declines because they reconsider their racial appraisals of others in their networks.

Et-Moone (ميانة) versus Wasta (واسطة): Understanding the concept of Et-Moone-based Wasta

Article

Jan 2022
IND MARKET MANAG

Most studies on business relationships in the Middle East have predominantly focused on the key concepts of Et-Moone (ميانة) and Wasta (واسطة). Such focus on these two concepts raises the questions about the relationship, if any, between these two concepts. Surprisingly, there has been no study that compares and contrasts the two concepts. Hence, the literature lacks understanding on the connections between these concepts. Do they occur in isolation from each other? Or do they overlap? Or do these concepts complement each other? This paper is aiming to answer the abovementioned questions. To do this, we use the theory of social capital, networks theory and social exchange theory. Our theoretical evaluation and comparison of both concepts enabled us to identify areas of differences and overlapping. Thus, and in addition to the differentiation between the two concepts, we advance the current literature by generating new understanding around the new concept of Et-Moone-based Wasta and their connection to social exchange and network theories.

Method for assessing structural gender barriers in an organization: Development and assessment of psychometric properties

Article

Jan 2023

In gender studies, there is a lack of instruments to assess the severity of gender inequality in an organization. Gender inequality at the structural level of the organization manifests itself as gender asymmetry in an organization and in certain status positions. It is indicated by metaphors of “glass” phenomena: “glass ceiling”, “sticky floor”, “glass walls”, “glass escalator”, “glass rock”, “glass box”. The article is devoted to the development and testing of the author’s methodology for assessing structural gender barriers in an organization. The study was conducted using an online survey in 2020, with a sample of 273 employees aged 18 to 62 years (median 34 years) from various organizations. The survey included, in addition to the developed questionnaire for assessing structural gender barriers, a methodology for assessing gen- der inequality at the individual-behavioral and normative levels in an organization (“Doing gender” and “Undoing gender” scales, “Scale for the severity of norms that support gender inequality” (author’s development), “Perceptions of Politics Scale” (author’s modification of the methodology of K.Kacmar and D.Carlson). The survey also included questions about the characteristics of the organization to assess the criterion validity. Reliability analysis, correla- tion analysis, and structural modeling were used. The results of the study showed good reli- ability of the scales, the results of SEM analysis show that the obtained data do not correspond to the six-factor model. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out, the resulting one- factor solution explains 54% of the variance. A positive correlation was found between the severity of structural gender barriers and the severity of norms that support gender inequality, with the presence of unfair policies in the organization and with the use of the “Undoing gender” individual behavioral strategy. A negative correlation was obtained with the number of women in high leadership positions in the organization. The obtained results testify in favor of the reliability, constructive and criterion validity of the new instrument. It is planned to further test the properties of the questionnaire on a larger sample.

Promoting Diverse Leadership: An Examination of Professional Experiences and Career Advancement Perceptions of Black Women in Higher Education

Article

Dec 2022

The professional experiences and career advancement perceptions of Black, female, higher education professionals were examined in an effort to obtain qualitative and quantitative data that could positively impact practice and policy in higher education leadership. Data were collected using a mixed questionnaire that included survey items, open-ended questions, and demographic inquiries. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVAs) was conducted to assess the difference in mean perception career advancement scores based on participants’ professional classification, highest level of education, and years of professional experience. No statistically significant differences (p > .05) were found. The lack of differences across demographics indicates that Black, female, higher education professionals have similar perceptions of career advancement, regardless of professional classification, education achieved, or years of experience.

Campus connections for creative careers: Social capital, gender inequality, and artistic work

Article

Feb 2023
POETICS

Exploring the Impact of Women’s Representation on the Professional Careers of Women of Color

Article

Jan 2023

While existing approaches to workplace stratification illuminate how relational and demographic processes impact workplace inequalities, little research has sought to disaggregate the experiences of professional women at the intersection of race and ethnicity. This study explores how workplace demography intersects with relationships among women to shape the experiences of women of color in professional careers. Relying on a mixed methods study of barriers to advancement among women lawyers, we find that the presence of women in an organization has little to no effect on the token pressures women of color experience in predominantly White-male organizations. We conclude increasing women’s overall representation is necessary but insufficient for addressing the challenges women of color face navigating professional careers.

Motherhood and Mentoring Networks: The Unequal Impact of Overwork on Women’s Workplace Mentoring Networks

Article

Dec 2022

Using longitudinal data on 1,711 female managers in South Korean firms, this study examines how time, culture, and workplace structure affect women’s mentoring networks. Our analyses demonstrate that women with fewer time constraints and who work longer hours are more likely to have a male mentor. However, when motherhood status is considered, work hours and time constraints are not significant predictors of having a mentor for mothers. Rather, organizational flexibility and work-life policies influence whether mothers have mentors, but those mothers who work long hours and display minimal domestic commitments benefit the most from the availability of flexibility. Findings suggest that long work hours and time constraints affect women’s marginalization in workplace relationships, and corporate practices mitigating work hour expectations can alleviate this impact for women with children.

Gender stereotypes and career choices: A cross-sectional study on a group of South African students in construction programmes

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Mariam Akinlolu

Gendered perceptions may determine the aspirations and expectations, as well as the academic and career choice of young people. This article examines the role of gender stereotypes as a predictor of career choices of students in construction. A survey of 229 conveniently sampled students, enrolled in construction-related programmes was conducted. The objectives of the study are to measure the relationship between gender stereotypes and career choice behaviour, and to measure the effect of gender and socio-economic status on how gender stereotypes influence student’s career choices. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to test for significant differences between gender and socio-economic status (SES) groups. Results show that, as opposed to men, women seem to perceive gender stereotypes as having more influence on their career choices than men. The study finds statistically significant differences in gender stereotypes among the low and medium socio-economic groups.

Worker Mobility in Practice: Is Quitting a Right, or a Luxury?

Article

Sep 2022

Kathryn Anne Edwards

Intersectional Stratification: Race, Religion, and Status Attainment

Article

Sep 2022

Research repeatedly shows that stratification occurs through racial classification and systemic racism. Scholars have also shown that stratification in wealth, education, and occupational attainment for Americans varies by religious affiliation. In this article, we incorporate theories of intersectionality and complex religion to study the ways that religion stratifies status attainment within racial groups in the United States. We hypothesize that relational proximity to predominantly white denominations increases status attainment for racial minorities in the United States. Using data from the 2000-2016 waves of the General Social Survey, we find that Black Evangelicals have higher levels of occupational prestige than Black non-Evangelicals. We argue that this is because of networks of social capital via multiracial churches that allow Black Evangelicals access to increasing levels of occupational prestige.

Old Boy Networks at Work in the United States

Chapter

Aug 2022

The multiple roles of network ties in the employee job search process

Article

Jul 2022

Employee “water cooler conversations” with coworkers, as well as interpersonal interactions outside of one's employing organization, are key sources of information about the labor market. Although the value of network ties for job search is well recognized, research to date has tended to focus on how network ties relate to job search outcomes, providing little insight into what types of network ties offer information that shape job seeker perceptions and behaviors throughout the job search process. Drawing from Steel's (2002) evolutionary search model and social network research, we assert that different types of network ties—those that are weak versus strong and those internal versus external to the organization—offer different types of labor market information, which impacts employees' labor market perceptions, propensity to search for employment, and job search effectiveness. Using a time‐separated research design in a sample of healthcare workers, we find weak external ties are associated with more optimistic perceptions of the labor market, increased marketability, and early‐stage job search, and strong external ties are associated with greater marketability and propensity to engage in an early‐stage job search. Strong internal ties (SITs) have dual, opposing influences on employee job search: SITs are associated with less early‐stage job search, but they are also associated with increased concrete prospects when employees are more actively seeking alternative employment. Taken together, this study provides more nuanced insights into how network ties influence employee job search processes, clarifying ambiguities in this literature.

Gender-health disparities: exploring the counterbalancing mechanisms of labor disadvantage and health behaviors in rural China

Article

Jun 2022

The health disparity associated with gender has raised attention on the rampant health inequity issues in China. This gender-health disparity is further complicated by the contrasting evidence in several substantive demographic phenomena such as the female survival paradox and female morbidity paradox. The current study proposes a theoretical model to reveal the counterbalancing mechanisms contributing to gender-health disparity in China. Specifically, health behaviors and labor market disadvantages are two sets of counterbalancing factors that, when considered altogether, reveal the true extent of gender-health disparity. Using a 2020 survey in the poverty counties in two provinces of China, the current study investigates the counterbalancing mechanisms in gender-health disparity through mediation and suppression effects. With painful feeling and the number of chronic illnesses as dependent variables, this study showed that health behaviors and labor disadvantages are indeed counterbalancing mechanisms. The gender disparity in pain/ chronic illnesses disappeared after labor disadvantages were controlled for, but reemerged in greater magnitude after health behaviors were controlled were. For chronic illnesses, the previously non-existent gender disparity emerged after health behaviors were controlled for. Were it not for women’s salubrious health behaviors, they would suffer worse pain and chronic illnesses than men’s. This study informs the literature of the hidden counterbalancing mechanisms in gender-health disparity, and women’s inferior position in formal and informal labor domains blocks the goal of eradicating health inequity in China.

The Organization of Networking and Gender Inequality in the New Economy: Evidence from the Tech Industry

Article

May 2022
WORK OCCUPATION

Ethel L. Mickey

In the new economy, with shrinking organizational supports and increased precarity for professional workers, networking has intensified as an entrepreneurial career management strategy. Networking is embedded in the logic of new work organizations, but less attention has been paid to its impact on gender inequality. Through fifty interviews with workers from one tech company and nine months of observations, I ask: (1) In the new economy, with intense networking demands, how does gender structure the networking strategies of workers? And (2) How does the organization of networking contribute to gender inequality? I find that individuals draw on masculinity and femininity as they network in ways that reproduce gender status hierarchies. The structure and culture of networking disproportionately limit the careers of women compared to men by shaping their (1) networking approaches; (2) attitudes about networking; and (3) resources gained from networking. Men network by strategically socializing, confidently building informal relationships with other men through masculine activities and leveraging these relationships for key resources. Women cannot similarly access informal relationships, and so they engage in strategic networking, attending formal networking events that are less effective in providing career resources. Women embodying an elite, white femininity locate personal support in the company-sponsored women's network. However, this group reinforces organizational boundaries by gender and race. This article advances sociological literature on inequality in the new economy, drawing on gender theory to demonstrate how in elite, male-dominated industries like technology, networking contributes to the maintenance of gender inequalities.

Theorizing Gender in Social Network Research: What We Do and What We Can Do Differently

Article

Feb 2022

Gender, Race, and Network Advantage in Organizations

Article

Feb 2022

Emilio J. Castilla

Universities and colleges often engage in initiatives aimed at enrolling students from diverse demographic groups. Although substantial research has explored the impact of such diversity initiatives, less understood is the extent to which certain application strategies may continue to favor historically privileged groups, especially white men, as they seek admission to selective programs. With this study, I begin to address this gap by investigating the gender and racial implications of application endorsements—a common, often informal, network practice of signaling support for certain applicants that is shown to significantly boost an applicant’s chances of admission. Using unique data on the applicants and matriculants to a full-time MBA program at one elite U.S. business school, I first assess whether the endorsement advantage differs across demographic groups. Building on the social networks, selection, and inequality literatures, I then identify and test three key theoretical mechanisms by which the endorsement process may potentially benefit white men more than women and racial minorities. Although I do not find evidence in the studied program that the application endorsement is valued differently by key admissions officers or that it provides a different quality signal depending on the applicant’s gender or race, I do find that white men are significantly more likely than women and minorities to receive application endorsements. I conclude by discussing the implications of this study for understanding how gender and racial differences in accessing advantageous (often informal) network processes may undermine organizational efforts to achieve demographic equality and diversity. Funding: Financial support from the James S. Hardigg (1945) Work and Employment Fund and the MIT Sloan School of Management is gratefully acknowledged.

The “Supermen” Club: Organizational Secrecy and Masculine Identity in an Israeli National Security Organization

Article

Jan 2022
ARMED FORCES SOC

Aluma Kepten

How does secrecy shape narratives of militarized hegemonic masculinity? This article assesses a gap at the intersection between theories of masculinities and organizational secrecy. Supported by 15 interviews with current and former male workers of a covert section of an Israeli national security organization, it argues that secrecy is experienced as both an external hurdle and a central component to the way that men internalize masculinity. Unable to access social capital outside the security organization, the respondents of the study construct a social field inside it through which they can assert their masculinity. They do so by conceptualizing their jobs, themselves, and the organization through a prism of sacrificial warriorhood, and actively incorporate secrecy’s constraints into a narrative of “super-men”. This study thus examines secrecy in the context of a militarized environment, showing the experience of masculinity and a perceived lack of power-access among members of a dominant group.

Gender gaps in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship: the impact of human and social capital

Article

Dec 2021

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate gender gaps in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship and illuminate the underlying mechanism of why women are less likely to create ventures in order to take advantage of the opportunity than men. Design/methodology/approach By drawing on human/social capital theory and expanding extant gender-related entrepreneurship literature, this study addresses how human and social capital mediates the relationship between gender and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. A sample of 115,367 individuals across 62 countries drawn from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor of 2016 was examined using multilevel logistic regression and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) mediation analysis. Findings Findings of this study demonstrate that women’s lack of entrepreneurial relevant knowledge and skills, intrapreneurship experience as well as social networks with other entrepreneurs contribute to women’s less likelihood of engaging in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship than their male counterparts. Originality/value Compared to previous research mainly investigating macro-level determinants, this study further explores the explanatory factors affecting gender gaps in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship from the individual level. The findings provide an implication for public policy and give a direction to rethinking how to promote opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, especially for that led by women.

First-Generation Undergraduate Women and Intersectional Obstacles to Pursuing Post-Baccalaureate Computing Degrees

Conference Paper

May 2021

Equal Work, Unequal Careers: African-Americans in the Workforce

Book

Full-text available

Jan 2010

Rochelle Parks-Yancy

This book is important to both academics and non-academics for several reasons. First, using social networks to obtain rewards is a fairly universal behavior. It is a tacit part of social group membership, such that exchanges of social capital resources are part of regular social interactions (Putnam 2000). Since these exchanges are part of everyday behaviors, they include some and exclude others from educational and career opportunities. For example, many jobs are never publicly advertised because social capital acts as both the job advertisement (potential applicants must know someone who will tell them that the job is open) and the initial screening process (applicants must be recommended by other employees to even be considered for the job) (Waldinger 1997). Some may think that this process only works for “good jobs” (jobs that pay well, offer upward mobility and are prestigious, such as CEO positions in major firms), but it includes “bad jobs”, too (low-status and low paying jobs, such as fast-food) (Newman 1999). Therefore, exploring how social capital works for racial groups is key to understanding how some groups fare better than others in their career pathways.

Social Networks and Employment for Latinos, Blacks, and Whites

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1995

Luis M. Falcon

Despite the immigrant character of Latino groups in the United States, little attention has been given to the role of social networks in the job-search process and in labor market outcomes for Latinos. The literature on social networks describes their use as important in providing access to jobs but neutral as to affecting earnings or attainment of prestige. This study uses data from a 1988-1989 Boston survey to examine the effect of finding employment through social networks on the income attainment of white, black, and Latino workers. Job seekers in all groups rely on such networks, but Latinos exhibit the highest rate of usage, which ranges across all occupations and industry sectors. While it has no effect on the level of earnings for whites or blacks, Latinos' network usage is associated with a negative effect on earnings. Controlling for other factors results in the decline of this negative effect; although small, it remains significant and negative. Improved data sources are needed to clarify the effect of networks on the labor-market position of Latinos.

It's Not Only "Who You Know" that Matters: Gender, Personal Contacts, and Job Lead Quality

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2002
GENDER SOC

Previous research has shown that personal contacts are powerful intermediaries in transmitting job lead information for both job seekers and employers and therefore could contribute to various forms of gender inequality by, for example, providing higher-quality job leads to men than to women. The authors use a unique data set that includes information on the quality and source of individual job leads to explore whether the overall quality of job lead information depends solely on various attributes of recipients' contacts or whether job lead quality is also conditional on gender. These data are based on a diverse sample of professional, technical, and managerial workers from California. Findings indicate that the overall quality of the respondent's job leads is a product of their gender and that of the person providing the lead. In addition, net of a variety of factors, women and men with young children at home receive significantly lower-quality job leads.

Consequences of Women's Formal and Informal Job Search Methods for Employment in Female-Dominated Jobs

Article

Full-text available

Jun 1998
GENDER SOC

Patricia Drentea

Using data from the General Social Survey and the National Organizations Survey, this study assesses the extent to which job search methods affect gender composition in a job. In contrast to past research and the popular notion that networking maximizes job search outcomes, it is found that women who use informal job search methods had jobs with more women in them compared to not using such methods. Women using formal job search methods had jobs with fewer women in them compared to not using these methods. For men, job search methods were not associated with the gender composition of the job.

The Intersection of Gender and Race in the Labor Market

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2003

This review investigates scholarship on the intersection of race and gender, with a particular focus on the U.S. labor market. We ask the following questions: What assumptions underlie intersectional perspectives in sociology? Is there any evidence to demonstrate that race and gender intersect in the labor market? We begin by discussing the core assumptions within Black and multiracial feminist theories, which represent the most fully articulated treatments of "intersectionality." We then broaden our theoretical overview by identifying fundamental differences in the way that sociologists conceptualize intersectionality. We look for evidence of intersectionality in three central domains of research on labor market inequality: (a) wage inequality, (b) discrimination and stereotyping, and (c) immigration and domestic labor. We and that race and gender do intersect in the labor market under certain conditions. Finally, we consider how an intersectional approach enriches labor market research and theorizing about economic inequality.

Offering a Job: Meritocracy and Social Networks

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2000

This study focuses on the impact of sex, race, and social networks, to analyze the hiring process in a midsized high-technology organization, using information on all 35,229 applicants in a 10-year period (1985-94). For gender, the process is entirely meritocratic: age and education account for all sex differences. But even without taking into account the two meritocratic variables, there are small if no differences between men and women at all stages in the hiring process. For ethnic minorities, the process is partly meritocratic but partly reliant upon social networks. Once referral method is taken into account, all race effects disappear. In hiring, ethnic minorities are thus disadvantaged in the processes that take place before the organization is contacted. They lack access to or utilize less well the social networks that lead to high success in getting hired.

Social Networks and the Employment Problem of the Urban Poor

Article

Full-text available

Oct 1999

David Reingold

This paper investigates the link between social networks and the ability to find a job through a personal contact among adult inner-city residents. Using data collected by the National Opinion Research Center that interviewed 2490 adult inner-city residents, the impact of network structure and composition on finding a job through word-of-mouth is estimated. Ethnic differences in the rate of finding jobs through word-of-mouth were found, as well as interesting ethnic and racial differences in the way social networks operate to connect job-seekers and job vacancies. Overall, the findings suggest that social networks account for some of the employment problems that many inner-city residents face.

The Marginalization of Black Executives

Article

Full-text available

Oct 1989

Sharon M. Collins

Employment barriers appear to have lifted to allow greater numbers of educated blacks to move into high-paying professional and managerial occupations. But are the numerical gains by blacks really indicative of equal participation in the labor market? To address this question, I analyze interviews on the careers of 76 of the top-ranking black executives employed in Chicago white-owned corporations. My findings indicate that blacks have succeeded within white management hierarchies, but their upward mobility has been delineated racially. Respondents differentially filled personnel and public relations jobs explicitly created during the 1960s and 1970s to respond to black demands for civil rights. I conclude that this base of achievement built obsolete features into the current positions blacks hold in management. The corporate response to civil rights protest created a highly visible but economically vulnerable black managerial elite.

Race, Gender, and Authority in the Workplace: Theory and Research

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2002

Ryan A. Smith

This chapter surveys sociological approaches to the study of job authority, including theoretical foundations, measurement, and emergence as an important dimension of social inequality. The focus here is mainly on studies of race and gender differences in the determinants of authority and the consequences of race and gender differences in authority for income. Despite significant advancements in the overall socioeconomic status of minorities and working women, race and gender remain important impediments to their attainment of authority. This pattern, which is consistent and robust in state-level, national, cross-national, and cross-temporal studies, is sustained net of an incumbent's human capital investments and structural location within and between several economic units. Following a review of the predominant explanations for gender and racial disparities in job authority is the conclusion that the most promising explanations for persistent racial and gender disparities in authority concern the racial and gender demography of the workplace and the tendency on the part of authority elites to reproduce themselves through both exclusionary and inclusionary processes. Suggestions for future research include additional delineation of these processes based on samples of multiple racial/ethnic groups of men and women and studies that synthesize quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding the effects of employer and employee attitudes/preferences and practices on the authority attainment process.

Race and the Invisible Hand: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs

Book

Oct 2003

Deirdre Royster

The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy.

Article

Sep 1989
J Negro Educ

Core discussion networks of Americans

Article

Jan 1987
AM SOCIOL REV

P.V. Marsden

Count Outcomes: Regression Models for Counts. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables

Article

Jan 1997

J Scott Long

Social Capital: An International Research Program

Article

Jan 2012

For two decades, a significant number of scholars have subscribed to a common definition of social capital (resources embedded in social networks), employed a standard measurement (the position generator methodology), and conducted original research. Their sustained efforts have demonstrated the power of the concept of social capital in diverse arenas of research and varied cultural and societal settings. Their work has contributed to the substantiation, development, and expansion of social capital as a key scientific concept and theory. This book presents an introduction to some of the most recent work in the area. The volume editors have brought together scholars from North America, Europe, and East Asia to offer original and accessible reports of their own research studies. Covering both methodological and substantive issues, they demonstrate the continued importance of social capital as a guiding concept and theory in social sciences today.

The Invisible Hand of Social Capital: An Exploratory Study1

Article

Mar 2008

This chapter argues that social capital embedded in social networks that are full of resources benefit from having connections. It first considers some possible alternative explanations for the absence of reported use of personal contacts in job searches. Then it presents an elaboration of the theory of social capital. The chapter finally considers the invisible hand of social capital, which does not remove or discredit formal processes of job search and recruitment in the labor market.

Networks, norms, and trust: The social psychology of social capital

Article

Jan 2005
SOC PSYCHOL QUART

Karen S Cook

The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy

Book

Jan 1987

William Julius. Wilson

"The Truly Disadvantagedshould spur critical thinking in many quarters about the causes and possible remedies for inner city poverty. As policy makers grapple with the problems of an enlarged underclass they—as well as community leaders and all concerned Americans of all races—would be advised to examine Mr. Wilson's incisive analysis."—Robert Greenstein,New York Times Book Review "'Must reading' for civil-rights leaders, leaders of advocacy organizations for the poor, and for elected officials in our major urban centers."—Bernard C. Watson,Journal of Negro Education "Required reading for anyone, presidential candidate or private citizen, who really wants to address the growing plight of the black urban underclass."—David J. Garrow,Washington Post Book World Selected by the editors of theNew York Times Book Reviewas one of the sixteen best books of 1987. Winner of the 1988 C. Wright Mills Award of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Lone Pursuit: Distrust and Defensive Individualism Among the Black Poor

Book

Jan 2010

Sandra Susan Smith

Unemployment among black Americans is twice that of whites. Myriad theories have been put forward to explain the persistent employment gap between blacks and whites in the U.S. Structural theorists point to factors such as employer discrimination and the decline of urban manufacturing. Other researchers argue that African-American residents living in urban neighborhoods of concentrated poverty lack social networks that can connect them to employers. Still others believe that African-American culture fosters attitudes of defeatism and resistance to work. In Lone Pursuit, sociologist Sandra Susan Smith cuts through this thicket of competing explanations to examine the actual process of job searching in depth. Lone Pursuit reveals that unemployed African Americans living in the inner city are being let down by jobholding peers and government agencies who could help them find work, but choose not to. Lone Pursuit is a pioneering ethnographic study of the experiences of low-skilled, black urban residents in Michigan as both jobseekers and jobholders. Smith surveyed 105 African-American men and women between the ages of 20 and 40, each of whom had no more than a high school diploma. She finds that mutual distrust thwarts cooperation between jobseekers and jobholders. Jobseekers do not lack social capital per se, but are often unable to make use of the network ties they have. Most jobholders express reluctance about referring their friends and relatives for jobs, fearful of jeopardizing their own reputations with employers. Rather than finding a culture of dependency, Smith discovered that her underprivileged subjects engage in a discourse of individualism. To justify denying assistance to their friends and relatives, jobholders characterize their unemployed peers as lacking in motivation and stress the importance of individual responsibility. As a result, many jobseekers, wary of being demeaned for their needy condition, hesitate to seek referrals from their peers. In a low-skill labor market where employers rely heavily on personal referrals, this go-it-alone approach is profoundly self-defeating. In her observations of a state job center, Smith finds similar distrust and non-cooperation between jobseekers and center staff members, who assume that young black men are unwilling to make an effort to find work. As private contractors hired by the state, the job center also seeks to meet performance quotas by screening out the riskiest prospects-black male and female jobseekers who face the biggest obstacles to employment and thus need the most help. The problem of chronic black joblessness has resisted both the concerted efforts of policymakers and the proliferation of theories offered by researchers. By examining the roots of the African-American unemployment crisis from the vantage point of the everyday job-searching experiences of the urban poor, Lone Pursuit provides a novel answer to this decades-old puzzle.

Social isolation and labor market insulation: Network and neighborhood effects on less-educated urban workers

Article

Mar 1999
SOCIOL QUART

James R. Elliott

This study examines the influence of neighborhood poverty and social networks on labor market experiences of less-educated urban job seekers. Data come from the Multi-City Survey of Urban Inequality and the 1990 decennial census. Results indicate that relatively small differences in job search strategies among residents of high- and low-poverty neighborhoods are magnified in the hiring process and that supply- and demand-side factors have qualitatively different effects on earnings within these residential contexts. These results refine our understanding of social isolation by clarifying the points at which "neighborhood effects" manifest themselves in the job-matching process and suggest that social isolation is often accompanied by labor market insulation characterized by an increasing reliance upon neighbors and personal contacts for securing formal employment.

Socioeconomic indexes for occupations: A review, update, and critique

Article

Jan 1997

Following a review of the history and sources of socioeconomic indexes for occupations, we estimate a new set of indexes for 1990 Census occupation lines, based on relationships between the prestige ratings obtained by Nakao and Treas in the 1989 General Social Survey and characteristics of occupational incumbents in the 1990 Census. We also investigate theoretical and empirical relationships among socioeconomic and prestige indexes, using data from the 1994 General Social Survey. Many common occupations, especially those held by women, do not fit the typical relationships among prestige, education, and earnings. The fit between prestige and socioeconomic characteristics of occupations can be improved by statistical transformation of the variables. However, in rudimentary models of occupational stratification, prestige-validated socioeconomic indexes are of limited value. They give too much weight to occupational earnings, and they ignore intergenerational relationships between occupational education and occupational earnings. Levels of occupational education appear to define the main dimension of occupational persistence across and within generations. We conclude that composite indexes of occupational socioeconomic status are scientifically obsolete.

The Strength in Weak Ties

Article

Sep 1972

Although communication may take place more easily among people who share similar attributes and have similar attitudes and beliefs, such communication may be in large measure redundant: no new informtion enters the system. For the diffusion of new information, the existence of some “heterophilous” relationships seems to be a structural prerequisite. The following article offers evidence bearing on this proposition.

Men's and Women's Networks: A Study of Interaction Patterns and Influence in an Organization

Article

Jun 1985
ACAD MANAGE J

Daniel Brass

Foundations of Social Theory

Article

Mar 1991

Status Characteristics and Social Interaction

Article

Jun 1972
AM SOCIOL REV

This paper discusses the small groups literature on status organizing processes in decision-making groups whose members differ in external status. This literature demonstrates that status characteristics, such as age, sex, and race determine the distribution of participation, influence, and prestige among members of such groups. This effect is independent of any prior cultural belief in the relevance of the status characteristic to the task. To explain this result, we assume that status determines evaluations of, and performance-expectations for group members and hence the distribution of participation, influence, and prestige. We stipulate conditions sufficient to produce this effect. Further, to explain the fact that the effect is independent of prior cultural belief, we assume that a status characteristic becomes relevant in all situations except when it is culturally known to be irrelevant. Direct experiment supports each assumption in this explanation independently of the others. Subsequent work devoted to refining and extending the theory finds among other things that, given two equally relevant status characteristics, individuals combine all inconsistent status information rather than reduce its inconsistency. If this result survives further experiment it extends the theory on a straightforward basis to multi-characteristic status situations.

Paving an Alternative Route: Gender Differences in Managerial Networks

Article

Mar 1997
SOC PSYCHOL QUART

Herminia Ibarra

This research uses the network-analytic concepts of homophily, tie strength, and range to explore gender differences in characteristics of middle managers' information and career support networks. When the effects of position and potential for future advancement were held constant, women's netwotks were less homophilous than men's. Women high in advancement potential, however, relied to a greater extent than both high-potential men and less high-potential women on close ties and relationships outside their subunits. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that different types of networks may provide alternative routes to similar career resources for men and for women.

Social Capital and Finding a Job: Do Contacts Matter?

Article

Dec 2003
AM SOCIOL REV

Ted Mouw

Does social capital affect labor market outcomes? The prevalent use of job contacts to find work suggests that "who you know" is an important means of getting a good job. Network theories of social capital argue that well-connected workers benefit because of the job information and influence they receive through their social ties. Although a number of studies have found a positive relationship between measures of social capital and wages and/or occupational prestige, little is known about the causal effect of social networks on labor market outcomes. Four data sets are used to reassess findings on the role of social capital in the labor market. A test of causality is proposed based on the argument that if social capital variables do have a causal effect on job outcomes, then workers with high levels of social capital should be more likely to use contacts to find work, all else being equal. Results suggest that much of the effect of social capital in the existing literature reflects the tendency for similar people to become friends rather than a causal effect of friends' characteristics on labor market outcomes.

American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass

Article

May 1993
CONTEMP SOCIOL

Gender-based Barriers to Senior Management Positions: Understanding the Scarcity of Female CEOs

Article

Oct 2000

Judith G. Oakley

Although the number of women in middle management has grown quite rapidly in the last two decades, the number of female CEOs in large corporations remains extremely low. This article examines many explanations for why women have not risen to the top, including lack of line experience, inadequate career opportunities, gender differences in linguistic styles and socialization, gender-based stereotypes, the old boy network at the top, and tokenism. Alternative explanations are also presented and analyzed, such as differences between female leadership styles and the type of leadership style expected at the top of organizations, feminist explanations for the underrepresentation of women in top management positions, and the possibility that the most talented women in business often avoid corporate life in favor of entrepreneurial careers.

The ‘other side’ of embedded ness: A case‐study of the interplay of economy and ethnicity

Article

Jul 1995

Roger D Waldinger

This article looks at certain aspects of embeddedness, through a case-study of African-American, Caribbean, Korean and white construction contractors in New York City. The author argues that, in construction, the embeddedness of economic behaviour in ongoing social relations impedes access to outsiders. The convergence of economic and ethnic ties has a baneful effect, since outsiders also fall outside those networks that define the industrial community. While African-American, Caribbean and Korean outsiders all experience these barriers in similar ways, they differ in the adaptive strategies that they have pursued. Koreans appear to be the most embedded in ethnic networks, through which they secure jobs and skilled labour. Ethnic solidarity operates less powerfully among the black contractors, who are tied to a community where intra-ethnic diversity and internal competition have grown as a result of immigration. Black entrepreneurs turn to the state, whose requirements and dependence on union labour expose black builders to risks from which their Korean counterparts are sheltered. -from Author

Missing the Connection: Social Isolation and Employment on the Brooklyn Waterfront

Article

May 1996

Much of the recent literature on poverty assumes that the social and spatial isolation of impoverished inner city neighborhoods contributes to the poor job prospects of their residents. In this case study we examine a neighborhood, the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York, in which there is a concentration of poor people living in close proximity to blue-collar jobs. However, few local residents hold local jobs in the private sector. A survey of local employers revealed that most Red Hook jobs were filled via social networks that exclude local residents. Local residents, particularly African Americans, often lacked the serial capital - connections and references - needed to obtain these jobs. Further, many local employers considered Red Hook residents undesirable employees for a variety of reasons including ''place discrimination'' as well as racial discrimination. By contrast, public sector employers often preferred local residents, although their ability to hire them was limited by formal educational requirements. These findings lead us to question the efficacy of policies, such as ''empowerment zones,'' that assume that bringing jobs closer to where poor people live will necessarily improve their employment opportunities.

Gender, Race, and the Shadow Structure

Article

Jun 2002
GENDER SOC

Gail M. McGuire

In this article, I analyze survey data from more than 1,000 financial services employees to understand how gender inequality manifests itself in employees' informal networks. I found that even when Black and white women had jobs in which they controlled organizational resources and had ties to powerful employees, they received less work-related help from their network members than did white men. Drawing on status characteristics theory, I explain that network members were less likely to invest in women than in white men because of cultural beliefs that rank women below that of white men. While past research has documented how employers use gender to rank workers and distribute rewards unequally, my research indicates that workers use gender to categorize and rank their network members as well.

“Don’t put my name on it”: Social Capital Activation and Job‐Finding Assistance among the Black Urban Poor

Article

Jul 2005

Sandra Susan Smith

From a social capital theoretical perspective, deficiencies in access to mainstream ties and institutions explain persistent joblessness among the black urban poor. Little problematized, however, is the extent to which access leads to mobilization and the social context within which social capital activation occurs. Employing in- depth interviews of 105 low-income African-Americans, this work advances the literature in two ways. First, it suggests that what we have come to view as deficiencies in access among the black urban poor may have more to do with functional deficiencies of their job referral networks. Second, the findings from this study lay the groundwork for a single, multilevel conceptual framework within which to understand social capital activation, a framework that takes into consideration properties of the individuals, dyads, and communities of residence.

Social Capital at Work: Networks and Employment at a Phone Center

Article

Mar 2000

This article argues that a common organizational practice - the hiring of new workers via employee referrals - provides key insights into the nation of social capital. Employers who use such hiring methods are quintessential "social capitalists," viewing workers' social connections as resources in which they can invest in order to gain economic returns in the form of better hiring outcomes. Identified are three ways through which such returns might be realized: the "richer pool," the "better match," and the "social enrichment" mechanisms. Using unique company data on the dollar costs of screening, hiring, and training, this article finds that the firm's investment in the social capital of its employees yields significant economic returns.

Not So Fast, My Friend: Social Capital and the Race Disparity in Promotions Among College Football Coaches

Article

Feb 2010

To better understand persistent racial inequality in occupational mobility, we examine the influence of race and social capital on the promotions of 320 assistant college football coaches. The results from quantitative analyses demonstrate that social capital matters a great deal for promotions, but its impact is contingent on the race of the respondent. Specifically, network connections to heterogeneous contacts (racially heterophilous ties, weak ties, and high-status ties) appear to be more effective for black coaches than for white coaches. The findings underscore the importance and complexity of the relationships between race, social capital, and occupational mobility.

The Strength of Weak Ties

Article

Jan 1973

MS Granovetter

The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.

Networks, Norms, and Trust: The Social Psychology of Social Capital* 2004 Cooley Mead Award Address

Article

Mar 2005
SOC PSYCHOL QUART

Karen S Cook

Networks of trust relations often emerge under conditions of uncertainty or risk to facilitate social exchange. Under some conditions, such networks represent a form of social capital that can be mobilized in support of general social cooperation in the society. Under other conditions, however, such networks may have negative effects on the degree of social cooperation in the society. To examine these conditions I draw on experimental work on cooperation and trust, as well as recent work on social exchange under conditions of uncertainty and risk. After an introduction, in which I acknowledge those who have been influential in my career, I comment on the implications of this work for recent research on social capital.

The Hiring Process

Article

Jun 1994
AM BEHAV SCI

Peter V. Marsden

The NOS survey data show that U.S. establishments use a variety of methods for publicizing the availability of job opportunities to potential workers. Newspaper advertisements and informal referrals from employees are used most frequently. Referrals are more often used together with other approaches than as a sole recruitment strategy; those establishments that rely exclusively on “network hiring” tend to be small, less formalized, and in the private sector. Organizations display strong proclivities to rely on the same approaches to recruitment for different types of employees, but there are occupationally related variations in recruiting techniques. Professional referrals and advertisements are more typical approaches for high-prestige occupations than for low ones, and some variations in recruitment practices are associated with occupational gender composition.

Occupational Sex Segregation: The Role of Personal Ties

Article

Apr 1998

Bruce C. Straits

Previous studies have described how occupational sex segregation is fostered by differing friendship and resource networks that arise from gendered adult roles. To ascertain if similar processes operate among students whose social milieus have not yet been transformed by postcollege experiences of work, marriage, or childbearing, a probability sample of undergraduates were asked about how they found recent jobs and expect to search for permanent work in the future. Generally the results were consistent with studies of working adults. Compared to women, men are more likely to use personal contacts in finding work and more likely to select same-sex contacts. Female (or male) sources of job information, assistance, and advice channel job seekers toward primarily female (or male) occupations.

Interaction and the Conservation of Gender Inequality: Considering Employment

Article

Apr 1997
AM SOCIOL REV

Cecilia L. Ridgeway

How can we explain the persistence of gender hierarchy over transformations in its socioeconomic base? Part of the answer lies in the mediation of gender inequality by taken-for-granted interactional processes that rewrite inequality into new institutional arrangements. The problems of interacting cause actors to automatically sex-categorize others and, thus, to cue gender stereotypes that have various effects on interactional outcomes, usually by modifying the performance of other, more salient identities. Because changes in the status dimension of gender stereotypes lag behind changes in resource inequalities, interactional status processes can reestablish gender inequalities in new structural forms. Interactional sex categorization also biases the choice of comparison others, causing men and women to judge differently the rewards available to them. Operating in workplace relations, these processes conserve inequality by driving the gender-labeling of jobs, constructing people as gender-interested actors, contributing to employers' discriminatory preferences, and mediating men's and women's perceptions of alternatives and their willingness to settle for given job outcomes.

Gendering the Job: Networks and Recruitment At a Call Center

Article

Nov 2005

Understanding the mechanisms driving gender segregation has become a key focus in research on gender and labor markets. While the literature often invokes gender-sorting mechanisms that operate prehire, the data used to study these processes are usually collected on posthire populations. This article examines the workings of prehire mechanisms determining job sex segregation. Analyzing unique data on the recruitment and hiring process for customer service representatives at a telephone service center, all of the factors examined - preapplication choices, gender homophilous networks, and screeners’ choices - play significant roles in the gender segregation of this job. The analyses also show that making inferences about prehire processes on the basis of posthire data can be misleading. The authors conclude by discussing the theoretical and methodological implications of these findings.

Gender Differences in Job-Related Networks

Article

May 1988
WORK OCCUPATION

Karen E. Campbell

Despite the conventional wisdom that employed women suffer by dint of their exclusion from “old boy” networks, there has been little investigation of gender differences in networks and their implications for occupational outcomes. This article represents a first step toward incorporating network concepts into analysis of gender-based occupational inequalities. In it, I document differences between the job-related networks of women and men in a sample of recent job changers in four white-collar occupations. Women know persons in fewer occupations than men; their networks are negatively affected by having children younger than 6, and by changing jobs in response to their spouses' mobility;men's networks are unaffected by these constraints.

Structural Determinants of Men's and Women's Personal Networks

Article

Oct 1990
AM SOCIOL REV

Gwen Moore

Men's and women's personal networks often differ in composition, with women's more focused on family and men's on nonkin, especially coworkers. Using data from the 1985 General Social Survey, I find that these gender differences arise in part from dissimilar social structural locations of men and women, which lead to distinct opportunities for and constraints on the formation of close personal ties. Most gender differences in network composition disappear or are considerably reduced when variables related to employment, family, and age are controlled. However, some gender differences remain. Women have a larger number, higher proportion, and greater diversity of kin ties in their personal networks than men, even when compared with men in similar social structural positions.

Job Queues, Gender Queues: Explaining Women's Inroads into Male Occupations

Article

Jul 1992
IND LABOR RELAT REV

Job Search and Network Composition: Implications of the Strength-Of-Weak-Ties Hypothesis

Article

Oct 1992
AM SOCIOL REV

JD MONTGOMERY

Workers find jobs through personal contacts (weak and strong ties) and formal sources. Alternative formulations of the strength-of-weak-ties hypothesis suggest (1) weak ties relay job offers more frequently than strong ties, or (2) weak-tie offers are drawn from a better distribution. A formal model shows that both formulations imply a correlation between network composition and a job seeker's minimum acceptable wage. However, the use of a weak tie is never associated with higher expected wages under the first formulation, and is only sometimes associated with higher expected wages under the second formulation. These results suggest that researchers should focus on job seekers' network structures.

Men and Women of The Corporation

Article

Mar 1980

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Networks, Race, And Hiring

Article

Feb 2006
AM SOCIOL REV

It is common for scholars interested in race and poverty to invoke a lack of access to job networks as one of the reasons that African Americans and Hispanics face difficulties in the labor market. Much research has found, however, that minorities do worse when they use personal networks in job finding. Research in this area has been hampered by the complicated and multi-step nature of the job-finding process and by the lack of appropriate comparison data for demonstrating the various ways in which minorities can be isolated from good job opportunities. We seek to specify what it means to say that minorities are cut off from job networks. Building on the literature on social networks in the labor market, we delineate the various mechanisms by which minorities can be isolated from good job opportunities. We examine how these mechanisms operate, using unique data on the chain of network contacts that funnel to an employer offering desirable jobs. We find that network factors operate at several stages of the recruitment process. We find scant evidence, however, that these network factors serve to cut off minorities from employment in this setting. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological implications of the case for the study of networks, race, and hiring.

Networks of Opportunity: Gender, Race, and Job Leads

Article

Aug 2009

Researchers have commonly invoked isolation from job opportunities as an explanation for persistence of gender and race inequality in the labor market, but few have examined whether access to information about job opportunities varies by race and gender. Findings from nationally representative survey data reveal significant white male advantage in the number of job leads received through routine conversations when compared to white women and Hispanics. Differences in social network resources (social capital) partly explain the deficit among Hispanics, but fail to account for the job lead gap between white women and men. Further analyses show that inequality in the receipt of job information is greatest at the highest levels of supervisory authority, where white males receive substantially more job leads than women and minorities.

Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Networks

Article

Nov 2000
WORK OCCUPATION

Gail M. McGuire

This study sheds light on the informal mechanisms that contribute to inequality by examining the relationship between gender, race/ethnicity, and networks. Drawing on network theory and status construction theory, the author examines the routes through which employees' sex and race/ethnicity affect the status of their network members. The analyses indicate that women and people of color had network members with lower status than men and Whites because they occupied positions that limited their access to and ability to attract powerful employees. The author concludes that structural rather than personal exclusion explains race/ethnic and sex differences in the status of network members.

Information and Influence Networks in Labor Market

Article

Jan 1980

A Test of Sincerity: How Black and Latino Service Workers Make Decisions about Making Referrals

Article

May 2010

Sandra Susan Smith

The author draws from in-depth interviews with thirty-nine black and Latino custodial and food service workers at the University of California, Berkeley, to determine how workers make decisions about making job referrals. Interviews were revelatory. Drawing from widely available and institutionalized scripts about what makes a good worker, jobholders assessed jobseekers’ orientation toward work as well as what effect this orientation might have on their own reputations on the job to determine whom to help and how much to do so. Because of ethno-racial differences in how unemployment was interpreted, Latinos were more likely than their black counterparts to help and to do so proactively. These findings suggest that theories of social capital mobilization must take into consideration individuals’ access to and deployment of cultural resources to fully understand the circumstances under which actors are mobilized for instrumental action.

What's In The ‘Old Boys’ Network? Accessing Social Capital in Gendered and Racialized Networks

Abstract

No full-text available

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