Gender Homophily in Job Referrals: Evidence From a Field Study Among University Students

38 Pages Posted: 18 May 2022

See all articles by Karin Hederos

Karin Hederos

Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)

Anna Sandberg

Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)

Lukas Kvissberg

Stockholm School of Economics

Erik Polano

Stockholm School of Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 8, 2022

Abstract

We conduct a field study at a Swedish business school to investigate gender homophily in job referrals. In the study, 454 participants were asked to refer another student at the school for a real job. We find strong evidence of gender homophily among both men and women: Almost three out of four students refer a candidate of their own gender. The gender composition of friendship networks appears as an important driver of this pattern. Gender differences in the valuation and attribution of skills, on the other hand, do not seem to contribute to the observed gender homophily in referrals.

Keywords: Job referrals; gender; homophily; networks

JEL Classification: J16; M51; J24

Suggested Citation

Hederos, Karin and Sandberg, Anna and Kvissberg, Lukas and Polano, Erik, Gender Homophily in Job Referrals: Evidence From a Field Study Among University Students (May 8, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4103637 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4103637

Karin Hederos

Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) ( email )

Kyrkgatan 43B
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden

Anna Sandberg (Contact Author)

Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) ( email )

Kyrkgatan 43B
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden

Lukas Kvissberg

Stockholm School of Economics

PO Box 6501
Stockholm, 11383
Sweden

Erik Polano

Stockholm School of Economics

PO Box 6501
Stockholm, 11383
Sweden

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