Can We Talk? An Exploratory Study of Gender and Network Ties in a Local Government Setting

• Published date: 01 June 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X221144965
• Author: Leisha DeHart-Davis,Travis A. Whetsell,Nicole Humphrey
• Date: 01 June 2024
• Subject Matter: ArticlesGender Dynamics in the Workplace

https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X221144965

Review of Public Personnel Administration

2024, Vol. 44(2) 240 –267

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/0734371X221144965

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Article

Can We Talk? An Exploratory

Study of Gender and Network

Ties in a Local Government

Setting

Leisha DeHart-Davis1, Travis A. Whetsell2,

and Nicole Humphrey3

Abstract

We explore the influence of gender and formal organizational status on the

formation of discussion ties. Network data, gathered through surveying employees

from a municipal organization in the United States, garnered a 92% response rate

(n = 143). Results of exponential random graph modeling indicate women supervisors

are more likely to send discussion ties, while women in general are more likely to

receive discussion ties. These exploratory results suggest women may be perceived

as more approachable for work discussions, but not as supervisors. Finally, the results

identified a consistent homophily effect of gender in the discussion network.

Keywords

discussion networks, gender, exponential random graph modeling

Introduction

Researchers who study public sector organizations tend to focus on formal structure

(Rainey et al., 2021; Whetsell et al., 2021). While formal structure exerts a profound

influence on its operations, public organizations also contain informal social networks

that play an important role in the delivery of public goods and services (Kim & Lee,

2006). These social networks comprise constellations of employees who interact with

1University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

2Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

3University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Nicole Humphrey, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134, USA.

Email: nhumphrey@miami.edu

1144965ROPXXX10.1177/0734371X221144965Review of Public Personnel AdministrationDeHart-Davis et al.

research-article2022

DeHart-Davis et al. 241

each other, establishing informal “ties.” Ties between employees—intraorganizational

ties—provide information needed for work and policy implementation, while generat-

ing shared understandings of the work to help overcome complexity and uncertainty

(Siciliano, 2015). Ties enable knowledge creation and dissemination, as well as orga-

nizational learning (Oparaocha, 2016; Paruchuri & Awate, 2017; Siciliano, 2017;

Tasselli, 2015). This learning can be related to internal considerations (organizational

processes) or external ones (community or political dynamics), both critical for public

organizations in the delivery of public goods and services for addressing complex

problems (e.g., COVID-19 and racial equity).

The communication and information sharing that are part and parcel of organiza-

tional learning are essential to effective human resource management performance at

both the individual and organizational level, potentially making “the difference

between government success and government failure” (Garnett, 1992, p. 3). To illus-

trate, social networks affect a range of human resource management activities, such as

organizational change initiatives (Parise, 2007), the transfer and storage of knowledge

(Hollenbeck & Jamieson, 2015), and organizational development (Hatala et al., 2006).

Thus, intraorganizational networks are another piece in the puzzle of effective human

capital management rendered more poignant as performance expectations rise, bud-

gets stagnate, and social problems remain wicked (Head & Alford, 2015). Despite the

importance of intraorganizational social networks to effective human resource man-

agement, the extant literature in public administration has focused overwhelmingly on

networks at the organizational level (Siciliano et al., 2022). Inter-organizational net-

works focus on the structures and processes of interaction between organizations,

ignoring the internal dynamics of social interaction within organizations. This article

builds on a growing body of intraorganizational networks literature in public adminis-

tration, focusing on the internal communication network between employees of a

small city government.

The importance of intraorganizational networks to the public sector raises the ques-

tion of the attributes of organizational members that both send and receive ties. What

types of individuals tend to reach out to others for information, and what types of

individuals agree to provide that information? This is an important question from both

scholarly and practical perspectives. From a scholarly perspective, much of the litera-

ture in public administration has focused on the structure and outcomes of inter-orga-

nizational networks (See Kapucu et al., 2017, for a review), with less attention paid to

intraorganizational public sector network dynamics, much less the individual attri-

butes of tie senders and tie receivers (Tasselli et al., 2015). From a practical human

resources perspective, if internal communication is limited by social processes that

bias on individual attributes (shared gender, race, age, etc.) it suggests that social net-

works are not as dense as they could be, thus impeding knowledge flow throughout the

organization (Poleacovschi et al., 2021). Knowledge is central to developing and man-

aging human capital within the public sector (Carnevale, 1996), whether through suc-

cession planning (Parise, 2007), professional development (Hatala et al., 2006), or

onboarding (Hollenbeck & Jamieson, 2015).