Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings
Gender differences in application behavior can contribute to gender inequality in hiring outcomes. People are unlikely to be selected for jobs if they do not put themselves forward to be considered for positions. This paper focuses on understanding supply-side mechanisms that may stifle female advan...
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Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151371 |
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author | Mang, Audrey G. |
author2 | Fernandez, Roberto M. |
author_facet | Fernandez, Roberto M. Mang, Audrey G. |
author_sort | Mang, Audrey G. |
collection | MIT |
description | Gender differences in application behavior can contribute to gender inequality in hiring outcomes. People are unlikely to be selected for jobs if they do not put themselves forward to be considered for positions. This paper focuses on understanding supply-side mechanisms that may stifle female advancement; in particular, responding to ideas about how women behave in the labor market that would lead us to suspect that they are “leaning out” of opportunities. We study the internal labor market within a single firm to examine the extent of gender differences in application to internal job openings. Importantly, in determining the rates of application, we have the advantage of being able to observe the risk set of potential applications in this setting. Our findings show few differences in application rates by gender, even when considering variation in hierarchical distance of the opportunity or the level from which the candidate is applying. Despite existing theories sf constraints that differentially affect workers by gender, in this setting, there is very little evidence that women are not leaning into advancement opportunities, or that they’re leaning in less than men. |
first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:44:06Z |
format | Thesis |
id | mit-1721.1/151371 |
institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:44:06Z |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
record_format | dspace |
spelling | mit-1721.1/1513712023-08-01T04:09:50Z Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings Mang, Audrey G. Fernandez, Roberto M. Sloan School of Management Gender differences in application behavior can contribute to gender inequality in hiring outcomes. People are unlikely to be selected for jobs if they do not put themselves forward to be considered for positions. This paper focuses on understanding supply-side mechanisms that may stifle female advancement; in particular, responding to ideas about how women behave in the labor market that would lead us to suspect that they are “leaning out” of opportunities. We study the internal labor market within a single firm to examine the extent of gender differences in application to internal job openings. Importantly, in determining the rates of application, we have the advantage of being able to observe the risk set of potential applications in this setting. Our findings show few differences in application rates by gender, even when considering variation in hierarchical distance of the opportunity or the level from which the candidate is applying. Despite existing theories sf constraints that differentially affect workers by gender, in this setting, there is very little evidence that women are not leaning into advancement opportunities, or that they’re leaning in less than men. S.M. 2023-07-31T19:34:49Z 2023-07-31T19:34:49Z 2023-06 2023-06-27T15:24:27.252Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151371 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
spellingShingle | Mang, Audrey G. Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings |
title | Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings |
title_full | Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings |
title_fullStr | Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings |
title_full_unstemmed | Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings |
title_short | Do Women Ask? Gender Differences in Applying for Internal Job Openings |
title_sort | do women ask gender differences in applying for internal job openings |
url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151371 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT mangaudreyg dowomenaskgenderdifferencesinapplyingforinternaljobopenings |