Bending the Pipeline? Executive Search and Gender Inequality in Hiring for Top Management Jobs

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fernandez-Mateo, Isabel; Fernandez, Roberto M.
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2015.2315
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 3636-3655
• 关键词: organizational studies; Gender inequality; hiring processes; labor market intermediaries

摘要

We study the sources of women's underrepresentation in hiring for top management jobs by focusing on the context of executive search. Using data that include proprietary information on 10,970 individuals considered by a search firm, we examine the sources of the low proportion of women placed in senior roles. Contrary to received wisdom, we find limited evidence that demand-side screeners strongly contribute to gender disadvantage in this setting. What gender differences exist tend to play out at the start of the hiring process and are driven both by supply-side and demand-side actors. Once considered for a position, women are no less likely than men to be hired-though they are slightly less likely to be interviewed by the search firm. Our findings highlight the theoretical importance of disentangling candidates' self-steering behavior from the pipeline bending of hiring agents. We discuss the implications of our results for understanding gender inequality at upper echelons of the labor market.