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Marissa King

The Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania

When Women Stick Together: Network-Based Gender Inequality and Disruptive Events

Date: Friday, April 25, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM -12:00 PM
Location: Online

All are cordially invited to attend.

Abstract:

Social networks play a key role in exacerbating and potentially ameliorating inequality. The persistence of network-based inequality is well-documented. However, the mechanisms that disrupt this unequal access to resources via networks remain less understood. This study investigates how structurally disruptive events, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As), reshape patterns of gender homophily and resource sharing in professional networks. We examine how 59 M&As shape the evolution of 82,064 physicians’ referral and patient-sharing networks. We find that disruptive events enhance women’s access to resources by altering the dynamics of gender homophily in network tie formation, maintenance, and dissolution. Specifically, acquisitions intensify men’s tendency to form ties with other men. In contrast, women are more likely to preserve ties with other women, with all-women dyads exhibiting greater resilience and lower dissolution rates than mixed-gender or all-men dyads. This dynamic results in richer resource-sharing networks for women, shielding them from the adverse effects of organizational disruption. These results highlight how women’s networks adapt to uncertainty, fostering mutual support during turbulent times. By demonstrating how gendered network dynamics evolve in response to disruptions, this study contributes to scholarship on gender inequality, network resilience, and the conditions under which homophilous ties can mitigate disparities.