The Impact of Prestige, Social Closeness and Productivity on Networks of Academic Scientists

• In Event: 3546 - Sociology of Science

Abstract

A substantial literature has looked at the impact that institutional prestige has on a number of individual career outcomes, from placement to productivity to satisfaction. The findings generally highlight the importance of the prestige of the PhD granting institution, and how doctoral prestige plays a role as the first step in a trajectory of accumulated advantages. The argument is that in a situation where initial placement is highly contingent on limited information, those who graduate from more prestigious departments will land in positions with more resources available, in turn increasing their long run success. While this pattern has been established for a number of different fields, substantially less attention has been paid to the impact of institutional prestige on professional networks. Professional relationships can supply scientists with much needed resources and advising that they may otherwise lack, and as such this process can either substantially enhance or counterbalance the impact of institutional prestige on career trajectories. Using a nationally representative sample of academic scientists in biology, biochemistry, math and civil engineering across multiple institution types, this paper estimates the impact of institutional prestige on the structure and social capital of faculty professional networks. Our findings suggest that institutional prestige, especially based on doctoral affiliation, has a significantly positive impact on research and sponsorship resources obtained through personal networks, but that the picture is more complex when it comes to other types of resources. This holds even when controlling for personality traits like social closeness and individual characteristics such as research productivity.

Authors

• Diogo Lemieszek Pinheiro, University of North Georgia

• Julia Melkers, Georgia Institute of Technology