New Directions in Gender and Organizations: Closing the Gender Gap in Career Advancement

Abstract

As long observed by Kanter (1977), climbing the corporate ladder is not a gender-neutral endeavor. Since then, improvement on women’s career advancement within organizations has continued to be disturbingly slow. Research in management, sociology, and labor economics has highlighted the existence of gender bias and the lack of female representation in management positions (Bertrand and Duflo, 2017; Castilla and Benard, 2010; Heilman, 2012) and has put forward a set of explanations for the phenomenon, such as gender stereotypes and status beliefs (Correll, 2004; Bertrand, 2011, Eagly and Karau, 2002, Rudman and Glick, 2001). Gender bias and discrimination, in their contemporary forms, reveal themselves to be complex and subtle. After uncovering the phenomenon and its primary mechanisms, the literature is now focusing on building a more specific and detailed knowledge of the ways gender inequality is perpetuated through organizational mechanisms, such as task allocation and recruitment processes (Babcock et al., 2017; Brands and Fernandez-Mateo, 2017; Chang et al., 2019, Sarsons, 2017) and the ways it can be lessened (Flabbi et al., 2019; Parker et al, 2019). The four papers in our symposium contribute to this literature by exploring various organizational mechanisms, including structure, culture, and hiring practices, in relation to women’s career advancement within organizations. In addition, some of these studies consider the interaction of such organizational mechanisms with individual factors, such as perceptions of the organization, and social capital through marriage ties. More broadly, the studies also situate organizations in the ongoing context of the knowledge economy and globalization. Employers (Think They) Know Best: A Comparison of Hiring Practices on Career Outcomes Presenter: Jennifer M. Merluzzi; George Washington U. Presenter: Damon J. Phillips; Columbia Business School Presenter: James Wade; George Washington U. Same-Occupation Marriage, Gender, and Career Achievement Presenter: Sue Hyun Moon; State U. of New York (SUNY) Farmingdale Presenter: Colleen Stuart; Johns Hopkins U. New Owner, New Rules? Impact of Cross-Border Acquisitions on Gender Diversity Presenter: Tatiana Lluent; Duke U. Sex Segregation in the Knowledge Economy Presenter: Trevor Daniel Young-Hyman; U. of Pittsburgh Presenter: Oliver Hahl; Carnegie Mellon U. - Tepper School of Business Presenter: Evan Gilbertson; U. of Pittsburgh