The Gender Factor in Cross-sectoral Collaboration

Extant research has examined gender differences in preferences, attitudes, and behaviors, and the impacts of such differences on employee behaviors and organizational outcomes. One key gender role may relate to propensity to... [ view full abstract ]

Extant research has examined gender differences in preferences, attitudes, and behaviors, and the impacts of such differences on employee behaviors and organizational outcomes. One key gender role may relate to propensity to engage in inter-organizational relations. As Holman (2017) notes, “gender differences emerge […] because of gendered socialization patterns, where women are socialized to care for others, the gendering of poverty so that women are more reliant on social services, gender gaps in policy preferences, where women in the general population support welfare and social service spending at higher rates than do men, and historic patterns of women’s activism in these areas of policy” (p. 7).This study moves beyond the broader question in the current literature about whether women tend to collaborate more than men.  We extend this area of inquiry by empirically examining the relationship between gender and  specific collaborative behaviors, choices, and decisions, and we incorporate sector context in our analysis.

Few studies examine how the gender factor plays out with respect to collaboration differences across sectors, and across governance and structural arrangements - a research gap we aim to address in this study. Specifically, our first goal is to verify whether women are more likely than men to lead their organizations into collaborative arrangements.  We then move to the primary question motivating our research – does gender . influence how collaboration is implemented, taking into account sector, service area, the nature of the relationships, and the structural arrangements that govern the relationship. 

To address these questions, we rely on quantitative data from two nationally representative surveys targeting local governments and NPO officials in Lebanon. The data collection was completed between February and May 2017 with 248 of 1,108 local governments and 221 of 650 NGOs completing the survey (response rates are 22.4% and 34% respectively). The data provide a unique opportunity to focus on collaboration at the local level—a subject that is understudied overall, and especially in the context of a developing country—and to compare collaborative arrangements and behaviors between sectors. Such a comparison is especially important since the institutional roles of NPOs can constrain and prescribe the behaviors of those who lead them (Benharda, Brett, and Lempereur 2013).

Preliminary results indicate that women in local governments are less likely to collaborate than men. More importantly, the results reveal significant difference between men and women in how collaboration is structured and managed—when it exists. Women are more likely than men to have their own organizations initiate collaboration and to rely on shared decision-making. They perceive the relationship to be built more on mutual informal support than on the more formal partnership. Implication for theory and practice are discussed.