Journal article
Ties That Bind? Race and Networks in Job Turnover
Social problems (Berkeley, Calif.), Vol.54(4), pp.483-503
11/2007
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/114011
Abstract
This article seeks to clarify the role of race and social networks in job turnover. Analyses using the personnel records of roughly 300 entry level workers in a private organization investigate the extent to which social networks in the job attainment process affect turnover. Specifically, I examine what occurs when the social network contact is from inside versus outside of the company, when the contact is white or minority, and when a contact and applicant share a race or when they do not. Referrals from current employee contacts reduce voluntary turnover while referrals from nonemployees do not provide a turnover advantage. White and minority contacts yield similar levels of job turnover and both generate lower levels of turnover than noncontacts, a finding that lends partial support to social capital theory. Finally, I find modest support for homophily theory; compared to race-mismatched contact-applicant dyads, race-matched dyads have lower levels of voluntary turnover but similar levels of involuntary turnover. The results illustrate the lasting effects of race-based social networks. I propose suggestions for designing research that can further our understanding of the mechanisms allegedly at work in the race, social network, and job turnover relationship.
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Details
- Title
- Ties That Bind? Race and Networks in Job Turnover
- Creators
- Julie A Kmec
- Publication Details
- Social problems (Berkeley, Calif.), Vol.54(4), pp.483-503
- Academic Unit
- Sociology, Department of
- Identifiers
- 99900547506801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article