Bridging Social Networks and Female Labor-Force Participation in a Multiethnic Metropolis

Johnson, James H.; Bienenstock, Elisa Jayne; Farrell, Walter C.

doi:10.2747/0272-3638.20.1.3

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…), much of the research on race and networks suffers from this ambiguity (e.g., Fernandez and Harris 1992;Johnson, Bienenstock, and Farrell 1999;Johnson et al 2000;Lichter and Oliver 2000). Studies comparing the networks of employed and unemployed individuals will always suffer from this causal ambiguity.…”

Section: Race a And N Network I In T The L Labor Marketmentioning

confidence: 99%

Networks, Race, and Hiring

Fernández¹,

2006

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It is common for scholars interested in race and poverty to invoke a lack of access to job networks as one of the reasons that African Americans and Hispanics face difficulties in the labor market. Much research has found, however, that minorities do worse when they use personal networks in job finding. Research in this area has been hampered by the complicated and multi-step nature of the job-finding process and by the lack of appropriate comparison data for demonstrating the various ways in which minorities can be isolated from good job opportunities. We seek to specify what it means to say that minorities are cut off from job networks. Building on the literature on social networks in the labor market, we delineate the various mechanisms by which minorities can be isolated from good job opportunities. We examine how these mechanisms operate, using unique data on the chain of network contacts that funnel to an employer offering desirable jobs. We find that network factors operate at several stages of the recruitment process. We find scant evidence, however, that these network factors serve to cut off minorities from employment in this setting. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological implications of the case for the study of networks, race, and hiring.

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Section: Race a And N Network I In T The L Labor Marketmentioning

confidence: 99%

Networks, Race, and Hiring

Fernández¹,

2006

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“…Research on immigrant labor markets has provided substantial evidence that immigrants' ethnic networks facilitate the search for and acquisition of jobs (Waldinger 1996). In contrast, limited access to employment networks among native-born blacks has been shown partly to explain blacks' poor employment outcomes (Johnson, Bienenstock, and Farrell 1999;Waldinger 1996;Wilson 1987).…”

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confidence: 99%

Access to Work: The Effects of Spatial and Social Accessibility on Unemployment for Native‐Born Black and Immigrant Women in Los Angeles

Parks

2004

Economic Geography

105

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This study contributes to the debates on both spatial mismatch and “social‐network” mismatch by considering the independent effects of spatial and social accessibility on the unemployment of less‐educated native‐born black and immigrant women. These groups experience relatively high unemployment yet differ in their residential patterns and the hypothesized capacities of their social networks. Using detailed geographic census data matched to travel data, I calculated an accessibility index to measure spatial job accessibility and used information on neighborhood characteristics and household composition to assess social accessibility. The results indicate that better spatial accessibility to jobs is associated with lower unemployment among native‐born black and foreign‐born Mexican and Vietnamese women; no association was detected among the remaining immigrant groups. The analysis yielded no empirical support for the advantages that residence in an enclave may provide female immigrant residents in the form of access to employment through social networks. In fact, the results point to detrimental effects of residence in an ethnic enclave for foreign‐born Mexican and Vietnamese women. Finally, among all groups, living with other employed adults significantly and substantively decreased a woman's likelihood of unemployment, indicating the importance of household‐based social accessibility for less‐educated native‐born black and immigrant women's employment outcomes.

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“…This is one reason it is omitted from this analysis. Overall, despite such limitations, the MCSUI module on social ties constitutes an unusually valuable source of data, as indicated by the fact it has generated useful and important results in a number of previous, significant studies (e.g., Elliott 1999;Freeman 2001;Green, Hammer and Tigges 2000;Johnson et al 2000).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Structural Assimilation Revisited: Mexican-Origin Nativity and Cross-Ethnic Primary Ties

Brown

2006

Social Forces

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Classical assimilation theory postulates that over time, members of immigrantgroups will develop more primary ties with native members of the host society. However, lack of data bas led most research to rely on the study of either spatial mobility or other secondary variables as proxies of primary ties. Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, this research examines primary relations, comparing the number of cross-ethnic strong ties amongforeign-and native-born generations of persons of Mexican origin in Los Angeles County. The findings indicate that the native-born are substantially more likely to report cross-ethnic ties than immigrants. Spatial variables only partially explain the effect of primary structural assimilation, implying that both primary group and spatial dynamics play important roles in structural incorporation.

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Bridging Social Networks and Female Labor-Force Participation in a Multiethnic Metropolis

Cited by 27 publications

References 24 publications

Networks, Race, and Hiring

Networks, Race, and Hiring

Access to Work: The Effects of Spatial and Social Accessibility on Unemployment for Native‐Born Black and Immigrant Women in Los Angeles

Structural Assimilation Revisited: Mexican-Origin Nativity and Cross-Ethnic Primary Ties

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