Gendering the Job: Networks and Recruitment at a Call Center

Abstract

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.