Jumping Ship: Who Benefits from an external labor market career strategy

The authors evaluated a sample of 610 managers working in 20 Fortune 500 companies in a longitudinal study to test hypotheses about male and female managers' compensation associated with internal and external labor market strategies. Both managers' gender and their labor market experience were hypothesized to affect their total cash compensation. Data confirmed hypotheses, but analyses of differences between male and female managers showed that only the male managers benefited from an external labor market strategy. Female managers who used an external labor market strategy did not receive greater compensation than female managers who used an internal labor market strategy. The discussion focuses on why female managers do not receive the same benefit from an external labor market strategy as male managers.