Project info
Work package
- Work
Sustainability threat
- External Shocks
Challenge
- Reshaping organizational forms
Study info
Description of Study
The study investigates gender differences in workplace friendships, focusing on the number of friends, the gender of friends and the extent of same-gender friendships accounting for workplace characteristics shaping these differences. We used three-level data (employees nested in departments and organizations) from six different sectors across nine countries and multilevel mixed-effects models to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that women have more workplace friends than men. Given sufficient opportunities, both men and women prefer same-gender workplace friendships. Moreover, when having a manager of the same gender, not only men but also women have significantly more same-gender workplace friends. This study contributes to the understanding of workplace friendships by employing unique data from 2,620 employees across various organizations and different sectors. Additionally, it provides insights into how organizational contexts can shape friendship networks among employees and gender dynamics therein.
Study research question
Are there gender differences in workplace friendships, and do these differences vary with respect to characteristics of the workplace?
Collection provenance
- External data
Collection methods
- Questionaire
Personal data
No
External Source
Source description
Employee and manager data
File formats
Data types
- Structured
Languages
Coverage start
Coverage end
Spatial coverage
Bulgaria
Germany
Finland
Hungary
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Collection period start
01/03/2018
Collection period end
01/01/2019
Variables
Unit
Unit description
Sample size
Sampling method
Individuals
employees working in organizations
4345
stratified
Hypothesis
Theory
H1a: Women tend to have more WPF than men.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships
H1b: Women tend to have more female WPF than men.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships
H1c: Women tend to have fewer male WPF than men.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships
H1d: Compared to men, women have, on average, less homophily in WPF.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships
H2a: The more women in the department the stronger the positive link between being a woman and the number of WPF.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships, organizational context
H2b: The more women in the department, the stronger the positive link between being a woman and the number of female WPF.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships, organizational context
H3a: Compared to teams with a male manager, in teams with a female manager, the positive effect of being a woman on the number of WPF is weakened.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships, organizational context
H3b: In departments with a female manager (vs. male manager), the homophily tendency in WPF is strengthened for women and weakened for men.
Gender roles, social networks, friendships, organizational context
Variable type
Variable name
Variable description
Dependent variable
Number of workplace friends (WPF)
We use the affective network data of the ESWS, consisting of two items ‘Whom in your department do you also see outside work?’ and ‘Whom do you like to work with in your department?’
Dependent variable
male workplace friends
Count of all male affective network members.
Dependent variable
female workplace friends
Count of all female affective network members.
Dependent variable
homophily
Ratio of male and female friends relative to the respondent’s gender (same-gender WPF/all WPF).
Independent variable
female
Gender of the respondent.
Independent variable
share of women in the department
Measured at the department level, using the information of the manager survey item ‘How many employees in your department are female?’ with the answer categories 0 – none, 1 – 1-9%, 2 – 10-19%, 3 – 20-39%, 4 – 40-59%, 5 – 60-79%, 6 – 80-89%, 7 – 90-99%, and 8 – all.
Independent variable
female manager
Gender item of the manager questionnaire shows whether an employee has a male or a female manager.
Control variable
years in the organization
In years.
Control variable
years in the department
In years.
Control variable
age
In years.
Control variable
child
Whether the respondent has children living at home.
Control variable
working from home
Respondent works (sometimes) from home.
Control variable
education
In years.
Control variable
department size
Number of employees in the department.
Control variable
country
—
Control variable
sector
—
Discipline-specific operationalizations
Conflict of interest
Data packages
Publications
Workplace friendships of men and women: Examining employee gender, manager gender, and gender composition in European workplaces
Hoffmann P, Jaspers E, van der Lippe T, van der Toorn J (2025), "Workplace friendships of men and women: examining employee gender, manager gender and gender composition in European workplaces". Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, Vol. 44 No. 9 pp. 124–143, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-07-2024-0298
Documents
Filename
Description
Date
Ethics
Ethical assessment
Yes
Ethical committee
Faculty Ethics Review Board - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University