Women in top management - A social network perspective in German context

Abstract

Women play a crucial role in top management. However, limited empirical studies in female leadership have investigated the formation and dynamics of female leaders’ networks, and compared them to those of their male colleagues. Building on resource dependency and identification theories, this paper suggests two rationales that underline and explain female leaders’ social network patterns, namely, borrowing social capital and benefiting from homophily. Using German DAX30 interlocking network data (2010 to 2015), this paper confirms the unique pattern of female leaders’ social network, thereby contributing to the ongoing discussion on the female leadership and social network literature. The analysis further showed that women utilize their social networks differently, and are better embedded, than men in the interlocking network. We excluded the possibility that women are well connected only because they serve on big companies. The results also showed that women have more heterogeneous personal networks than men, which supports the self-reinforcing effect of women inclusion strategies. This study therefore guides future research on network dynamics in the design of personal behavior rule, and encourages strategies of gender equality in order to introduce more women in the top management.