Project info
Work package
- Work
Sustainability threat
- External Shocks
Challenge
- Reshaping organizational forms
Study info
Description of Study
Social support can be beneficial for employees’ career success. However, it remains unclear whether men and women benefit equally from career support. Prior research shows that women may be disadvantaged in leveraging social relationships for instrumental returns. Drawing on social support and social network theory, this chapter analyzed the relationship between career support and two aspects of career success, namely salary (objective) and job satisfaction (subjective). Based on the argument that the usefulness of career support depends on the support contact and what they can provide, we investigated support from different career contacts, differentiating between career support from non-work and work contacts. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and 8719 employees, our findings showed that overall, men and women receive similar levels of career support, yet from different sources: men received support more often from work contacts, and particularly supervisors, while women received career support more often from non-work contacts and coworkers. Career support was consistently positively associated with salary and job satisfaction, and support from work contacts, especially from supervisors, was most beneficial for career success. We also found evidence for gender differences in the returns to career support, with men benefiting more from career support, especially in terms of salary. These results suggest that although career support contributes to career success, it does not do so equally for men and women, thereby potentially contributing to persistent gender inequalities at work.
Study research question
To what extent is receiving career support from work and non-work relationships related to men’s and women’s career success?
Collection provenance
- External data
Collection methods
- Questionaire
Personal data
No
External Source
Source description
Subset of year 2016 was used as it includes a measure of career support.
File formats
Data types
- Structured
Languages
Coverage start
Coverage end
Spatial coverage
Germany
Collection period start
—
Collection period end
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Variables
Unit
Unit description
Sample size
Sampling method
Individuals
Employed individuals in private households who completed the questionnaire in 2016.
8719
—
Hypothesis
Theory
H1: Individuals receiving career support tend to have higher salaries and greater job satisfSupport at work action than those who do not receive career support.
Support, instrumental support
H2: Employees receiving career support from work contacts (vs. non-work contacts) tend to have higher salaries and greater job satisfaction.
Support at work, instrumental support
H3: Individuals receiving career support from their supervisor (vs. coworkers) tend to have higher salaries and greater job satisfaction than those who do not.
Support at work, instrumental support
H4: The positive association between (a) career support, (b) career support from work, and (c) career support from supervisor and career success is weaker for women than for men.
Gender roles and stereotypes, Unequal access and returns to and from support
Variable type
Variable name
Variable description
Dependent variable
Salary
Gross earnings from their main job in euros in 2016.
Dependent variable
Job satisfaction
Self-reported satisfaction with the current job, measured on an 11-point Likert scale.
Independent variable
Career support
Dummy variable indicates whether respondent receives career support at all.
Independent variable
Career support contacts.
This categorical variable indicated whether respondents received career support from no one (0), only from non-work contacts (1), only from work contacts (2), or from both work and non-work (3). Contacts were classified as ‘work’ contacts if they belonged to the group ‘coworkers’ or ‘supervisors’ in the name generator; all other contacts were considered ‘non-work’.
Independent variable
Career support contacts at work
This categorical variable splits up the ‘work’ support contacts further into three categories. It had the value 0 for ‘coworker’ (the respondent listed at least one coworker but no supervisors), 1 for ‘supervisor’ (the respondent listed at least one supervisor but no coworkers), and 2 for ‘coworker & supervisor’ (the respondent listed both coworkers and supervisors).
Independent variable
Gender
Indicates whether the respondent is male or female.
Control variable
age
In years.
Control variable
education
In years.
Control variable
Partnership status
Is the respondent in a partnership (yes/no).
Control variable
children
Do children reside with the respondent (yes/no).
Control variable
years in the organization
Years of working in the current work organization.
Control variable
Size of the organization
Size of the current work organization ( 2000).
Control variable
Industry
Industry (agriculture, energy, mining, manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, bank/insurance, services)
Discipline-specific operationalizations
Conflict of interest
Data packages
Publications
Documents
Filename
Description
Date
Ethics
Ethical assessment
Yes
Ethical committee
Faculty Ethics Review Board - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University