Impact of gender on use of wasta among human resources management practitioners

Journal article

Alsarhan, Fadi, Ali, Sa'ad, Weir, David and Valax, Marc 2020. Impact of gender on use of wasta among human resources management practitioners. Thunderbird International Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22186
AuthorsAlsarhan, Fadi, Ali, Sa'ad, Weir, David and Valax, Marc
Abstract

The practice of wasta dominates all aspects of Arabs’ lives; it is a parallel inegalitarian
system that categorizes people according to their connections. One of the epicenters of wasta is
human resources management (HRM). This paper studies the concept of wasta in the Arab world
by examining its use in HRM according to gender, in the case of the Jordanian public sector.
Results obtained from 27 semi-structured interviews of HR managers indicate that though wasta
is an important feature of HRM in general, there is a notable discrepancy between male and
female employees, with the former displaying higher tendencies for using wasta than the latter.
An explanation for this finding is the prevalent masculine nature of Jordanian society, which
entails social caveats related to the traditional role of women. Professional determinants, such as
gendered job segregation and variance in qualifications, also affect men’s and women’s access to
wasta

KeywordsWasta; HRM; Gender; Informal Networks; Social Exclusion
Year2020
JournalThunderbird International Business Review
PublisherWiley
ISSN1520-6874
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22186
Web address (URL)http://hdl.handle.net/10545/625470
hdl:10545/625470
Publication dates14 Dec 2020
Publication process dates
Deposited15 Dec 2020, 14:32
Accepted30 Nov 2020
ContributorsUniversité de Lyon, Jean Moulin, iaelyon, Magellan, Lyon, France, University of Derby, Huddersfield University, York St John University and IAE Nice, Nice, France
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