Offering a job: Meritocracy and social networks

This study focuses on the impact of sex, race, and social networks, to anal yze the hiring process in a midsized high-technology organization, using in formation on all 35,229 applicants in a 10-year period (1985-94). For gende r, the process is entirely meritocratic: age and education account for all sex differences. But even without taking into account the two meritocratic variables, there are small if no differences between men and women at all s tages in the hiring process. For ethnic minorities, the process is partly m eritocratic but partly reliant upon social networks. Once referral method i s taken into account, all race effects disappear. In hiring, ethnic minorit ies are thus disadvantaged in the processes that take place before the orga nization is contacted. They lack access to or utilize less well the social networks that lead to high success in getting hired.