The structure of people's social networks has a measurable impact on workplace productivity and earning potential, according to a study published Tuesday in the Economic Journal.
Researchers found large and loosely connected social networks make it easier to acquire information, while smaller, tighter networks amplify peer pressure. In uncertain work environs, access to information is essential, while peer pressure intensifies.
The influence of social networks put women in the workplace at a disadvantage. Women are more likely to be a part of tight networks, whereas larger, looser networks are more common among men.
Researchers claim their findings offer an explanation for why men self-select into occupations featuring high-risk decisions, like finance and research, while women opt for more stable workplace settings in health and education.
"We were surprised to learn that men's and women's networks differ in these drastic ways, with the differences being robust across very distinct environments," study authors Ilse Lindenlaub and Anja Prummer, said in a news release.
In uncertain work environments, where high-risk, high-reward projects are the norm, access to information via large, loose social networks help participants gauge which projects are worth taking on.
According to study authors' hypothesis, in more stable work environs, a tighter social network is more beneficial. In these types of workplaces, failure is more likely to cause tensions within the groups. The peer pressure of tighter networks motivate participants to put greater effort into projects in order to prevent failure and avoid tension.
Researchers developed their theory after examining social connections within a variety of datasets, including the Digital Bibliographic Library Browser's computer science set, email communications from Enron and AddHealth's friendship networks.
The data allowed researchers to identify patterns among the social connections forged by men and women within different settings, including academia, private companies and schools.
The data showed women tend to form tighter, more interconnected networks featuring greater clustering, while men are more likely to forge looser connections, building larger social networks.
Researchers claim their findings help explain why women, on average, perform worse than men in high risk occupations. Gender differences in social networks, researchers argued in their study, might account for wage differences in high risk industries.
"We hope that our findings spark more research into the importance of network structure for labor market outcomes, not only but also to better understand gender gaps in the labor market," Lindenlaub and Prummer said.
