Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • July–August 2013
  • Article
  • Organization Science

Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Katherine L. Milkman
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We investigate the role of workgroup sex and race composition on the career mobility of professionals in "up-or-out" organizations. We develop a nuanced perspective on the potential career mobility effects of workgroup demography by integrating the social identification processes of cohesion, competition, and comparison. Using five years of personnel data from a large law firm, we examine the influence of demographic match with workgroup superiors and workgroup peers on attorneys' likelihood of turnover and promotion. Survival analyses reveal that higher proportions of same-sex and same-race superiors enhance junior professionals' career mobility. On the flip side, we observe mobility costs accruing to professionals in workgroups with higher proportions of same-sex and same-race peers. Qualitative data offer insights into the social identification processes underlying demographic similarity effects on turnover and promotion in professional service organizations.

Keywords

Professional Service Firms; Gender; Race And Ethnicity; Ethnicity; Race; Personal Development And Career; Gender; Legal Services Industry

Citation

McGinn, Kathleen L., and Katherine L. Milkman. "Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals." Organization Science 24, no. 4 (July–August 2013): 1041–1060.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Kathleen L. McGinn

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
    • Faculty Research

    Juno (C): Leveraging Student Power

    By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
    • January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
    • Faculty Research

    Juno (B): Leveraging Student Power

    By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
    • January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
    • Faculty Research

    Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power

    By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
More from the Authors
  • Juno (C): Leveraging Student Power By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
  • Juno (B): Leveraging Student Power By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
  • Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College