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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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mang, Audrey G.
Other Authors: Fernandez, Roberto M.
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2023
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.
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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