IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v16y2005i2p134-150.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Blind Ambition? The Effects of Social Networks and Institutional Sex Composition on the Job Search Outcomes of Elite Coeducational and Women’s College Graduates

Author

Listed:
  • Maura A. Belliveau

    (Department of Management, Texas A&M University, 4221 TAMU, College Station, Texas 77843-4221)

Abstract

In this paper, I develop a perspective on women’s career attainment focused on how employers’ salary offers may be constructed based on their assumptions regarding women’s access to comparative salary information. Therefore, although the use of social networks in job search may enhance women’s actual knowledge of prevailing wages, I hypothesize that institutional characteristics that employers could assume to constrain women’s networks and concomitant access to salary information will directly affect salary offers, as well as moderating the influence of network ties on pay. To test this perspective, job search outcomes of women attending elite coeducational and women’s colleges were examined. Regarding the number of offers obtained, women who consulted with proportionally more male peer and employed adult male advice ties received significantly more job offers than women using fewer male advice contacts. With regard to salary offers, this study reveals an institutional sex composition effect: women exiting single-sex institutions (i.e., women’s colleges) received significantly lower salary offers than women from coeducational schools, even after accounting for human capital, job characteristics, and institutional reputation. The effects of social networks on pay were moderated by institutional sex composition such that women exiting women’s colleges received lower returns in the form of salary to their cross-gender advice ties than did women from a matched coeducational institution. Implications of these results for theories of social capital and women’s occupational attainment are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Maura A. Belliveau, 2005. "Blind Ambition? The Effects of Social Networks and Institutional Sex Composition on the Job Search Outcomes of Elite Coeducational and Women’s College Graduates," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 134-150, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:16:y:2005:i:2:p:134-150
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1050.0119
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0119
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.1050.0119?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ferber, Marianne A & Spaeth, Joe L, 1984. "Work Characteristics and the Male-Female Earnings Gap," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 260-264, May.
    2. Jacqueline Berger, 1995. "Were You Referred By a Man or a Woman? Gender of Contracts and Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 732, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. repec:fth:prinin:353 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Marta M. Elvira & Mary E. Graham, 2002. "Not Just a Formality: Pay System Formalization and Sex-Related Earnings Effects," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(6), pages 601-617, December.
    5. Solomon William Polachek, 1978. "Sex Differences in College Major," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 31(4), pages 498-508, July.
    6. Kilduff, Martin, 1990. "The interpersonal structure of decision making: A social comparison approach to organizational choice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 270-288, December.
    7. Ronald S. Burt, 1998. "The Gender Of Social Capital," Rationality and Society, , vol. 10(1), pages 5-46, February.
    8. Jacqueline Berger, 1995. "Were You Referred By a Man or a Woman? Gender of Contracts and Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 732, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    9. Olian, Judy D. & Schwab, Donald P. & Haberfeld, Yitchak, 1988. "The impact of applicant gender compared to qualifications on hiring recommendations : A meta-analysis of experimental studies," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 180-195, April.
    10. Josephine E. Olson & Irene Hanson Frieze & Deborah Cain Good, 1987. "The Effects of Job Type and Industry on the Income of Male and Female MBAs," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 22(4), pages 532-541.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yunxia Zhu & Alison M. Konrad & Hao Jiao, 2016. "Violation and activation of gender expectations: Do Chinese managerial women face a narrow band of acceptable career guanxi strategies?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 53-86, March.
    2. Brian Rubineau & Roberto M. Fernandez, 2015. "Tipping Points: The Gender Segregating and Desegregating Effects of Network Recruitment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 1646-1664, December.
    3. Amara, Nabil & Olmos-Peñuela, Julia & Fernández-de-Lucio, Ignacio, 2019. "Overcoming the “lost before translation” problem: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 22-36.
    4. Vijayta Doshi & Satyam Mukherjee & Yang Yang, 2023. "Network centrality and negative ties in feminine and masculine occupations," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 243-264, March.
    5. Bowles, Hannah Riley, 2012. "Psychological Perspectives on Gender in Negotiation," Scholarly Articles 9830358, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    6. Charl de Villiers & Matteo La Torre & Vida Botes, 2022. "Accounting and social capital: A review and reflections on future research opportunities," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4485-4521, December.
    7. Bowles, Hannah Riley, 2012. "Psychological Perspectives on Gender in Negotiation," Working Paper Series rwp12-046, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    8. Mukhammadyusuf Shaymardanov & Suvi Heikkinen & Anna-Maija Lämsä, 2023. "Social Networks of Women in Organizations: Evolution of Research and Future Research Agenda," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 12(1), pages 97-112, April.
    9. Bowles, Hannah Riley & McGinn, Kathleen L., 2007. "Untapped Potential in the Study of Negotiation and Gender Inequality in Organizations," Working Paper Series rwp07-062, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    10. Bowles, Hannah Riley & McGinn, Kathleen, 2008. "Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two-Level Game," Working Paper Series rwp08-027, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    11. Isabel Fernandez-Mateo & Roberto M. Fernandez, 2016. "Bending the Pipeline? Executive Search and Gender Inequality in Hiring for Top Management Jobs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(12), pages 3636-3655, December.
    12. Weihua Li & Sam Zhang & Zhiming Zheng & Skyler J. Cranmer & Aaron Clauset, 2022. "Untangling the network effects of productivity and prominence among scientists," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Maura A. Belliveau, 2012. "Engendering Inequity? How Social Accounts Create vs. Merely Explain Unfavorable Pay Outcomes for Women," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1154-1174, August.
    14. Kathleen L. McGinn & Katherine L. Milkman, 2013. "Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity Among Professionals," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1041-1060, August.
    15. Teniell L. Trolian & Elizabeth A. Jach & Christine A. Ogren & Jana M. Hanson, 2018. "Women Students’ Interactions with Faculty and Exposure to Good Teaching at Colleges and Universities with Varying Histories of Admitting Women," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(4), pages 461-488, June.
    16. Adina D. Sterling & Roberto M. Fernandez, 2018. "Once in the Door: Gender, Tryouts, and the Initial Salaries of Managers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5444-5460, November.
    17. Dane P. Blevins & Steve Sauerwald & Jenny M. Hoobler & Christopher J. Robertson, 2019. "Gender Differences in Pay Levels: An Examination of the Compensation of University Presidents," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 600-616, May.
    18. Jennifer Merluzzi, 2017. "Gender and Negative Network Ties: Exploring Difficult Work Relationships Within and Across Gender," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 636-652, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Larry Samuelson & George J. Mailath & Avner Shaked, 2000. "Endogenous Inequality in Integrated Labor Markets with Two-Sided Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 46-72, March.
    2. Pintea Mihaela, 2020. "Dynamics of female labor force participation and welfare with multiple social reference groups," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Filmer, Deon & Grosh, Margaret & King, Elizabeth & van de Walle, Dominique, 1998. "Pay and grade differentials at the World Bank," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1912, The World Bank.
    4. Lalanne, Marie & Seabright, Paul, 2011. "The Old Boy Network: Gender Differences in the Impact of Social Networks on Remuneration in Top Executive Jobs," IDEI Working Papers 689, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
    5. Florence Villesèche & Evis Sinani, 2023. "From Presence to Influence: Gender, Nationality and Network Centrality of Corporate Directors," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(2), pages 486-504, April.
    6. Nathalie Greenan & Emmanuelle Walkowiak, 2005. "Informatique, organisation du travail et interactions sociales," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 387(1), pages 35-63.
    7. Lalanne, Marie & Seabright, Paul, 2016. "The old boy network: The impact of professional networks on remuneration in top executive jobs," SAFE Working Paper Series 123, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    8. Catherine Weinberger & Peter Kuhn, 2006. "The Narrowing of the U.S. Gender Earnings Gap, 1959-1999: A Cohort-Based Analysis," NBER Working Papers 12115, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Brown, Charles & Corcoran, Mary, 1997. "Sex-Based Differences in School Content and the Male-Female Wage Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 431-465, July.
    10. Emilio J. Castilla & Aruna Ranganathan, 2020. "The Production of Merit: How Managers Understand and Apply Merit in the Workplace," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 909-935, July.
    11. Gorji, Yasaman & Carney, Michael & Prakash, Rajshree, 2020. "Indirect nepotism: Network sponsorship, social capital and career performance in show business families," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3).
    12. Cristina Liébana-Presa & Elena Andina-Díaz & María-Mercedes Reguera-García & Iván Fulgueiras-Carril & David Bermejo-Martínez & Elena Fernández-Martínez, 2018. "Social Network Analysis and Resilience in University Students: An Approach from Cohesiveness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-13, September.
    13. Pham, Tho & Talavera, Oleksandr, 2018. "Discrimination, Social Capital, and Financial Constraints: The Case of Viet Nam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 228-242.
    14. Elizabeth Eve Umphress & Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca & Daniel J. Brass & Edward (Eli) Kass & Lotte Scholten, 2003. "The Role of Instrumental and Expressive Social Ties in Employees' Perceptions of Organizational Justice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 738-753, December.
    15. Jiafeng Gu & Ruiyu Zhu, 2020. "Social Capital and Self-Rated Health: Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Olivier Godechot, 2013. "Le salaire dépend-il du sexe du supérieur ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 464(1), pages 73-96.
    17. Mason, Malia F. & Dyer, Rebecca & Norton, Michael I., 2009. "Neural mechanisms of social influence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 152-159, November.
    18. Rossen Anja & Boll Christina & Wolf André, 2019. "Patterns of Overeducation in Europe: The Role of Field of Study," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-48, June.
    19. Marie-Christine Chalus-Sauvannet & Karine Demauras, 2019. "Caractéristiques et motivations des femmes Business Angels et leurs interactions avec les femmes entrepreneurs ?," Post-Print hal-02121737, HAL.
    20. Bizzi, Lorenzo & Labban, Alice, 2019. "The double-edged impact of social media on online trading: Opportunities, threats, and recommendations for organizations," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 509-519.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:16:y:2005:i:2:p:134-150. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.