Rady School of Management, U. of California San Diego, United States
Sponsorship, when senior colleagues (sponsors), mobilize resources in their social network on junior colleagues’ (protégés) behalf, is consequential to career advancement. However, men and women do not benefit equally: male sponsors’ protégés experience better outcomes than those of female sponsors. Considering the reputational benefits of being associated with successful protégés, this suggests women do not reap the same returns from providing sponsorship. To explore why gender gaps in sponsor effectiveness exist, we examine men’s and women’s goals when providing sponsorship and the resulting impact on their approach to mobilizing resources in their social networks. Converging evidence across qualitative and quantitative data shows women view and approach sponsorship as a more complex endeavor than men: female sponsors generate more and different goals than male sponsors (Study 1 & Studies 2a-b). Moreover, this results in female sponsors engaging in suboptimal social network strategies: women balancing multiple goals cognitively activate networks higher in closure (Study 3). Considering these types of networks are less likely to yield a diverse selection of resources, opportunities, and contacts most crucial for effective sponsorship, these findings provide insight into one psychological mechanism likely contributing to gender gaps in sponsor effectiveness.
