Principal investigators
Amy Javernick-Will; Tony Tong
Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Collaboration + support
Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering; Leeds School of Business; Cristina Poleacovschi of Iowa State; Sheng Wang of the University of Nevada Las Vegas
A recent study co-written by CU 麻豆影院听researchers shows that how people seek听knowledge in the workplace might leave women听disadvantaged in male-dominated fields.
Published in the Journal of Management in听Engineering, the paper, written by professors听Amy Javernick-Will (construction engineering听and management) and Tony Tong (strategy,听entrepreneurship and operations), found that听women in the engineering field tend to ask more听questions to gain information, and seek that听information from other women. In contrast, men听are less likely to ask questions, but when they听do, they seek out other men.
In fields like engineering, where the workforce听is 89% male, this could leave women听disadvantaged for career advancement.听Additionally, the researchers argue that not听widely sharing knowledge across firms can harm听the organization鈥檚 productivity.
As solutions, the researchers suggest promoting听a culture shift that encourages sharing expertise听and implementing a peer sponsorship program听to pair colleagues with different backgrounds.
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