A new study from Wharton’s Tiantian Yang on gender homophily in remote settings finds that women who attended virtual career training did better when their classes did not include men.
2 min. read
New research from The Wharton School’s Tiantian Yang proves that behind every great woman is another woman.
Her co-authored study on virtual career training finds that women who attended remote classes exclusively with other women were much more likely to complete their training on time, earn professional certification, and get a job in their field—compared with women who attended mixed-gender classes.
The authors have determined that the absence of men in the same-gender classes created psychological safety for the female participants, which led them to share personal stories, support each other with messages of encouragement, and swap employment resources. All those actions lead to greater success for them.
The study is the first to show that gender homophily has distinct advantages for women in remote environments because it helps them build “identity-based trust.” The study is also a departure from previous research that finds women benefit from mixed-gender groups at work because men traditionally hold more authority and access to resources.
“The conventional wisdom for women is to find instrumental networks with men, which will help them more with their careers, but we ignore the benefit of women helping each other,” says Yang, a professor of management and sociology. “More help is always better, but it doesn’t have to come from men.”
The study is titled “With a Little Help from My (Girl) Friends: Field Evidence on Gender Homophily and Women’s Training Outcomes in Remote Environments,” and it appears in a special edition of Organization Science on remote work.
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