TY - UNPB

T1 - Supply or Demand? An Investigation into the Causes of Gender Inequality in Corporate Boards

AU - Orujov, Ayan

AU - Ashton, John

AU - Kang, Wei

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - A major cause of gender inequality in corporations arises from imbalanced allocations of social capital embedded within men and women’s interaction networks. This study examines these gendered and disparate patterns of interactions and social capital accessibility through a comparison of the career and network trajectories of 2,189 male and 730 female executives of S&P 1500 companies. We find that female directors have limited access to the interaction networks of corporate boards and receive lower returns from interaction networks relative to males, even when we control for formal status within corporations. We attribute this outcome to demand-side constraints arising from old boys’ networks, as well as supply-side female preferences. Once demand-side constraints are relaxed, women directors still cannot access the same social capital from interaction networks as their male counterparts. Our findings indicate women have distinct methods of networking and benefit from developing their own networks.

AB - A major cause of gender inequality in corporations arises from imbalanced allocations of social capital embedded within men and women’s interaction networks. This study examines these gendered and disparate patterns of interactions and social capital accessibility through a comparison of the career and network trajectories of 2,189 male and 730 female executives of S&P 1500 companies. We find that female directors have limited access to the interaction networks of corporate boards and receive lower returns from interaction networks relative to males, even when we control for formal status within corporations. We attribute this outcome to demand-side constraints arising from old boys’ networks, as well as supply-side female preferences. Once demand-side constraints are relaxed, women directors still cannot access the same social capital from interaction networks as their male counterparts. Our findings indicate women have distinct methods of networking and benefit from developing their own networks.

M3 - Working paper

BT - Supply or Demand? An Investigation into the Causes of Gender Inequality in Corporate Boards

ER -