WHO BENEFITS? GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RETURNS TO SOCIAL NETWORK DIVERSITY

Previous research has shown that social networks can be an important source of employment information, such as job leads, for both men and women. However, few studies have considered whether women and men benefit equally from having a diverse set of personal contacts. We argue that because previous research has not considered both the sex of the person providing job-related information and the sex of the person receiving the information, one cannot determine whether returns to network diversity differ by gender. We describe a unique data set that permits such an analysis, and report findings suggesting sex differences in returns to network diversity.