Network resources and the gender wage gap: capital differences, return differences, and capital specificity

Abstract This study examines gender differences in career, economic, and cultural network resources as possible explanations for the gender wage gap (capital differences) – resulting from (the interplay between) structural causes, gendered expectations and gender homophily. Additionally, it considers potential gender differences in wage returns to these social network resources (return differences). Doing so, this study sheds light on the importance of these two theoretical pathways. Moreover, it explores whether gender differences in access and returns to social network resources vary across different types of network resources (capital specificity). To this end, we collected original panel data among the general working population in the Netherlands, examining women’s and men’s wages along with their access to various social network resources. Results show that structural inequalities in access to economic network resources between women and men partly explain the gender wage gap (capital differences). By contrast, we found no significant gender differences in career and cultural network resources (capital specificity). Additionally, results reveal that network resources play a more consequential role in shaping women’s future wages than men’s (return differences), possibly because women rely more heavily on such resources as a strategy to navigate structural barriers in the labour market. Our study thus highlights that it is important to distinguish between various types of network resources and pathways when studying the gender wage gap.