Gender promotion gaps across business units in a multiunit organization: Supply- and demand-side drivers

Abstract

Drawing on gender role and gender queuing theories, we employ a multi-stage process model to investigate demand- and supply-side drivers of gender promotion gaps and to explore variations in these gaps across different business units within an organization. Analyzing 9 years of personnel records from a multiunit European bank, we find that the gender promotion gap is influenced by both supply-side and demand-side factors. Specifically, women are less likely than men to express a motivation to change to a new job or move to a different unit within the bank. Those who do express such motivation are as likely as men to be reassigned to new roles, but their moves are less likely to constitute promotions than are men's moves. Furthermore, gender promotion gaps vary significantly within the organization itself. Business units with the most significant gaps are in regions that have fewer available organizational positions to move into, diminishing women's motivation to seek such moves, and have jobs with numerous incumbents, decreasing women's chances to get a new job or secure a promotion upon doing so. This study extends gender role theory by creating a unified theoretical model that incorporates both employee and employer gender role perceptions as drivers of promotions. It contributes to gender queuing theory by demonstrating the theory's relevance to promotion outcomes.