Ling, Juan;
Brands, Raina;
Brass, Dan;
Liu, De;
Borgatti, Steve;
Mehra, Ajay;
(2025)
Gender, structural holes, and citations:
The effects of women’s increasing proportional representation in a field.
Group and Organization Management
(In press).
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Abstract
Large, sparsely connected social networks (i.e., networks rich in “structural holes”) are advantageous because they provide an informational edge. However, some studies have found that hole-rich networks can be a disadvantage for women. We examine the question: Are the returns women derive from structural holes contingent on women’s changing proportional representation in a field? Focusing on the context of knowledge production, with citations as a key metric of success, we analyzed co-authorship and citation data from elite management journals (1970-2006) using panel-data regression. Our findings reveal that the number of structural holes in women’s collaboration networks positively correlates with citations until women's proportion in the field reaches approximately 30 percent. Beyond this tipping point, the relationship becomes negative and significant. This result remains robust after controlling for variables such as previous citations (both the individual's and coauthors'), career stage, authorship order, gender homophily, and institutional status. Our study suggests that understanding the interplay between gender, structural holes, and citations requires a contextual perspective that considers the evolving circumstances women face as their representation in a field grows.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Gender, structural holes, and citations: The effects of women’s increasing proportional representation in a field |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://journals.sagepub.com/home/gom |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Gender, social networks, structural holes, citations, knowledge production |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > UCL School of Management |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205655 |
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