Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Gender and the MBA

Differences in Career Trajectories, Institutional Support, and Outcomes

Bibliographic Data

ID2367972
AuthorsE Patterson (0000-0002-5040-7576, The Pennsylvania State University, USA, corresponding author), Sarah E Patterson, Damaske (0000-0002-2464-9299, The Pennsylvania State University, USA), Sarah Damaske, Christen Sheroff (The Pennsylvania State University, USA)
Year2017
Volume31
Issue3
Pages310-332
Publication date2017-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2432 • E-ISSN: 1552-3977
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0891243217703630
PMID29706689
OpenAlexW2606542895
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited30

This study asks how men's and women's careers diverge following MBA graduation from an elite university, using qualitative interview data from 74 respondents. We discover men and women follow three career pathways post-graduation: lockstep (stable employment), transitory (3 or more employers), and exit (left workforce). While similar proportions of men and women followed the lockstep pathways and launched accelerated careers, sizable gender differences emerged on the transitory pathway; men's careers soared as women's faltered on this path-the modal category for both. On the transitory path, men fared much better than women when moving to new organizations, suggesting that gender may become more salient when people have a shorter work history with a company. Our findings suggest that clear building blocks to promotions reduce gender bias and ambiguity in the promotion process, but multiple external moves hamper women, putting them at a clear disadvantage to men whose forward progress is less likely to be stalled by such moves

Ambiguity · Career Pathways · Demographic economics · Disadvantage · Economics · Elite · Medical education · Political science · Salient · Sociology · Workforce · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges

  • The Science and Art of Interviewing

    Kathleen Gerson, Damaske et al.•Science and Art of Interviewing•2020

  • Elite MBAs in the Making of Top Business Careers

    Morag Maclean, Gerhard Kling et al.•Academy of Management Learning &…•2026

  • Job Tenure and Gendered Perception of Workplace Challenges in Gendered Organizations

    Open Access•Jisu Park, Damaske et al.•Socius Sociological Research for…•2025

  • The influence of protean attitude for women in STEM careers

    Open Access•Lama Blaique, Ashly Pinnington et al.•Gender in Management An…•2023

  • Gendered Queer Occupational Disparities in Male-Dominated Professions

    Open Access•Jisu Park, Damaske et al.•Sexuality Research and Social…•2025

  • Precarious Professionals

    Open Access•Amanda Bosky, Chandra Muller et al.•Social Forces•2022

  • Work as overload or enhancement for family caregivers of older adults

    Open Access•E Patterson, Vicki A Freedman et al.•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2023

  • Career capital and the MBA

    Open Access•Elizabeth Houldsworth, K Jones et al.•Studies in Higher Education•2023

  • Gendered labour process

    Open Access•Raghunandan Reddy, Arun Kumar Sharma et al.•International Journal of…•2019

  • Hegemonic masculinity or masculine domination

    Open Access•Raghunandan Reddy, Arun Kumar Sharma et al.•International Journal of…•2019

  • Labor Force Participation Over the Life Course

    Open Access•Katherine R Weisshaar, Katherine Weisshaar et al.•Demography•2020

  • Family Duties and Job Flexibility

    Sung Won Kim, Sungwon Kim et al.•Journal of Comparative Family…•2022

  • Politics as a transitory vocation

    Open Access•Amy Nethery, Zim Nwokora et al.•Australian Journal of Political…•2022

  • My Tears Have Dried from Crying, I Want to Laugh Now

    Yasemin Girgin, Tuna Kuyucu•Sociological Quarterly•2025

  • The Package Deal

    Nicholas W Townsend•The Package Deal•2002

  • The cultural contradictions of motherhood

    Sharon Hays•The cultural contradictions of…•1998

  • Do Babies Matter?

    Mary Ann Mason, Nicholas H Wolfinger et al.•Do Babies Matter?•2019

  • Climbing the corporate ladder

    Karen S Lyne, Karen S Lyness et al.•Journal of Applied Psychology•2000

  • Years On

    Open Access•Adelina Broadbridge, Ruth Simpson•British Journal of Management•2011

  • Opting Out

    Pamela Stone•Opting Out?•2019

  • Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors

    Marianne Bertrand, Claudia Goldin et al.•American Economic Journal Applied…•2010

  • The Persistence of Workplace Gender Segregation in the US

    Open Access•Philip N Cohen•Sociology Compass•2013

  • The Sociological Imagination

    C W Mills•The Mississippi Valley Historical…•1959

  • "Being the "Go-To Guy

    Open Access•Marianne Cooper•Qualitative Sociology•2000

  • Precarious Work, Insecure Workers

    Open Access•A L Kalleberg•American Sociological Review•2009

  • Work Environment and OPT-out Rates at Motherhood across High-Education Career Paths

    Open Access•Jane Leber Herr, Catherine D Wolfram et al.•Industrial and Labor Relations…•2012

  • Gender Differences in Providing Urgent Childcare among Dual-earner Parents

    David J Maume•Social Forces•2008

  • Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies

    Open Access•Joan Acker•Gender & Society•1990

  • Preparing for Parenthood

    Open Access•Brooke Conroy Ba, Brooke Conroy Bass•Gender & Society•2015

  • Just One of the Guys

    Open Access•Kristen Schilt•Gender & Society•2006

  • The Epistemology of the Gendered Organization

    Open Access•Dana M Britton•Gender & Society•2000

  • Gender Differences in Organizational Commitment

    Open Access•P V Marsden, A L Kalleberg et al.•Work and Occupations•1993

  • Male Scientists' Competing Devotions to Work and Family

    Open Access•Damaske, E H Ecklund et al.•Work and Occupations•2014

  • Stalled Progress

    Open Access•Philip N Cohen, Matt L Huffman et al.•Work and Occupations•2009

  • High Hopes

    Open Access•Naomi Cassirer, Barbara Reskin et al.•Work and Occupations•2000

  • The Determinants and Consequences of Workplace Sex and Race Composition

    Barbara F Reskin, Debra Branch Mcbrier et al.•Annual Review of Sociology•1999

  • Sex Segregation in the Workplace

    Barbara Reskin, Barbara F Reskin•Annual Review of Sociology•1993

  • Work and Family Research in the First Decade of the 21st Century

    Open Access•Suzanne M Bianchi, M A Milkie•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2010

  • Class Advantage and the Gender Divide

    Naomi Gerstel, Dan Clawson•American Journal of Sociology•2014

  • Getting a Job

    J Correll, Shelley J Correll et al.•American Journal of Sociology•2007

Unique citing works14
Citations per year2
Citation span2019 - 2026 (8)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 14
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae