Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Journal of Social Sciences

Network-based Job Search Modelling:Prioritizing Types of Scientific Communication and Information Networks Based on Access to Job Information

Document Type : Research

Authors

Mahsa Sadeghinezhad 1
Mohsen Noghani Dokht Bahmani 2
Hossein Akbari 2

1 PhD Candidate in Economic Sociology and Development, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/social.2022.57229.0
Abstract
Knowledge and expertise offer economic benefits to the actors of scientific communication and information network. If professionals are unable to interact with the members of their network, they may never get cognizant of job opportunities related to their expertise (especially in humanities fields). Therefore, the main purposes of this study are as follows: first, prioritize the general types of scientific communication and information networks in terms of informing about job opportunities through scientific collaboration with social contacts at various levels of knowledge diffusion. Second, determining the network to which the performance of the scientific collaboration network of sociology students correspond in terms of access to job information. The present paper draws on social network analysis approach in terms of theory, method, and technique. The study population includes all graduate students in the field of Sociology studying at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (60 students). Data type is relational, which was collected using name-generator questionnaire, and data analysis was conducted by R software. Findings from network description showed that members prefer to forge scientific collaboration with people who are either famous or associated with renowned colleagues, as well as those with whom they are collaborating. Findings from network-based modeling suggested that small-world network demonstrated the best performance in terms of finding job opportunities on the account of scientific collaboration with social contacts followed by regular network, random network and scale-free network. However, the performance of the scientific collaboration network of sociology students such as a scale-free network is bipolar. According to the results, scientific communication and information network is deemed efficient when it not only generates knowledge, but also a provides job information.
 
 
 

Keywords

Job Information
Social Contact
Scientific Collaboration
Scientific Communication and Information Network
Network-Based Modelling

©2024 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

  1. احمدی، س. (1393). بررسی وضعیت اشتغال دانش‎آموختگان جامعه‎شناسی و عوامل مرتبط با آن. دوفصلنامۀ جامعه‎شناسی اقتصادی و توسعه، 3(1)، 1-23.
  2. اعظم آزاده، م.، و دهقان دهنوی، آ. (1388). اشتغال دانشجویان: رابطۀ بین شبکۀ روابط اجتماعی و وضعیت شغلی. مسائل اجتماعی ایران، 16(63)، 5-32.
  3. جوادی، م.، و هرندی، ف. (1387). تغییر تعریف بیکاری و تأثیر آن بر میزان بیکاری منتشر شده. فصلنامۀ علمی - پژوهشی رفاه اجتماعی، 9(33)، 65-79.
  4. چلبی، م. (1373). تحلیل شبکه در جامعه‎شناسی. علوم اجتماعی (دانشگاه علامه طباطبائی)، 3(6/5)، 9-48.
  5. حریری، ن.، و نیکزاد، م. (1390). شبکه‎های هم‎تألیفی در مقالات ایرانی رشته‎های‎کتابداری و اطلاع‎رسانی، روان‎شناسی، مدیریت و اقتصاد در پایگاه ISI بین سال‎های 2000 تا 2009. فصلنامۀ علمی-پژوهشی پژوهشگاه علوم و فناوری اطلاعات ایران، 26(4)، 825-844.
  6. مرکز آمار ایران. (95-1390). نتایج ‎آمارگیری نیروی‎کار 95-1390. تهران: معاونت برنامه‎ریزی و نظارت راهبردی مرکز آمار ایران.
  7. Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M. G. & Johnson, J. C. (2013). Analyzing Social Networks. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  8. Brandes, U., Kruse, R. & Spiliopoulou, M. (2009). Community Analysis in Dynamic Social Networks. Magdeburg University Press.
  9. Burt, R. S. (1995). Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. USA: Harvard University Press.
  10. Burt, R. S. (2001). Bandwidth and Echo: Trust Information, and Gossip in Social Networks. In: James, E. R. & Alessandra, C. (Eds.). Networks and Markets. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, pp 30-74.
  11. Burt, R. S. (2005). Brokerage and Closure. An Introduction to the Theory of Social Capital. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  12. Cowan, R. & Jonard, N. (2004). Network Structure and the Diffusion of Knowledge. Journal of Econoic Dynamics Control, 28(8), 1557–1575.
  13. Cowan, R., Jonard, N. & Müge, Ö. (2004). Knowledge Dynamics in a Network Industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 71(5), 469–484.
  14. Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination. In: Gilbert, D. T., Fiske, S. T. & Lindzey, G. (Eds.). The Handbook of Social Psychology (4th ed). New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 357–411.
  15. Granovetter, M. S. (1974). Getting a Job. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  16. Granovetter, M. S. (1982). The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited. Sociological Theory, 1, 201-233.
  17. Granovetter, M. S. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure the Problem of Embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 481–510.
  18. Granovetter, M. S. (1995). Getting a Job: A Study in Contacts and Careers (2d ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  19. Hawdon, J., & Mobley, C. (2001). Applied Sociology: What Skills are Important? Social Insight. Knowledge at Work, 6, 12-20.
  20. Hechter, M. (1987). Principles of Group Solidarity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  21. Heilman, M. E. (1995). Sex Stereotypes: Do They Influence Perceptions of Managers? Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10, 237-252.
  22. Kim, H. & Park, Y. (2009). Structural Effects of R&D Collaboration Network on Knowledge Diffusion Performance. Expert Systems with Applications, 36, 8986–8992.
  23. Kmec, J. A., McDonald, S. & Trimble, L. B. (2010). Making Gender Fit and “Correcting” Gender Misfits: Sex Segregated Employment and the Non search Process. Gender and Society, 24(2), 213-236.
  24. Kolaczyk, E. D. & Csa´rdi, G. (2014). Statistical Analysis of Network Data with R. New York: Springer.
  25. Lada, A. A. & Eytan, A. (2003). Friends and Neighbors on the Web.Social Networks, 25(3), 211-230.
  26. Li, N. & Lin, M. (2010). Scale-Free Network Provides an Optimal Pattern for Knowledge Transfer. Physica A, 389, 473-480.
  27. Lin, N. (1999). Building a Network Theory of Social Capital. Connections, 22(1), 28-51.
  28. Lin, N. (2001). Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  29. Liu, J., Yang, G. Y. & Hu, Z. L. (2015). Knowledge Diffusion in the Collaboration Hyper network. Physica A, 419, 429-436.
  30. Liu, J. G., Wang, J. P., Guo, Q. & Yang, G. Y. (2015). Improved Knowledge Diffusion Model Based on the Collaboration Hyper network. Physica A, 1-8.
  31. Luke, D. A. (2015). A User’s Guide to Network Analysis in R. London: Springer.
  32. Marin, A. (2012). Don’t Mention It: Why People Don’t Share Job Information, When They Do, and Why It Matters. Social Networks, 34, 181-192.
  33. Marin, A. (2013). Who Can Tell? Network Diversity, Within-Industry Networks, and Opportunities to Share Job Information. Sociological Forum, 28(2), 350-372.
  34. Marsden, P. V. (1987). Core Discussion Networks of Americans. American Sociological Review, 52, 122–131.
  35. McDonald, S. (2011). What’s in the Old Boys Network? Accessing Social Capital in Gendered and Racialized Networks. Social Networks, 33, 317–330.
  36. Michael Petersen, A. (2015). Quantifying the Impact of Weak, Strong, and Super Ties in Scientific Careers. PNAS, 4671-4680.

 

  1. Reskin, B. F. (2000). The Proximate Causes of Employment Discrimination. Contemporary Sociology, 29, 319–328.
  2. Ridgeway, C. L. (1997). Interaction and the Conversation of Gender Inequality: Considering Employment. American Sociological Review, 62, 218-35.
  3. Scott, J. (2013). Social Network Analysis (3d ). London: SAGE Publications.
  4. Smith, S. S. (2005). Don’t Put My Name on it: Social Capital Activation and Job-Finding Assistance among the Back Urban Poor. American Journal of Sociology, 111, 1–57.
  5. Smith, S. S. (2007). Lone Pursuit: Distrust and Defensive Individualism among the Black Poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  6. Smith, S. S. (2010). A Test of Sincerity: How Black and Latino Service Workers Make Decisions about Making Referrals. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 629, 30–52.
  7. Straits, B. C. (1998). Occupational Sex Segregation: The Role of Personal Ties. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52, 191–207.
  8. Trimble O’Connor, L. (2013). Ask and You Shall Receive: Social Network Contacts’ Provision of Help During the Job Search. Social Networks, 35,
    593-603.
  9. Wasserman, S. & Faust, K. (1994). Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  10. Wellman, B. (1992). Which Type of Ties and Network Provide What Kinds of Social Support? Advances in Group Processes, 9, 207-235.
  11. Wu, W., Zhang, H. & Zhao, L. (2015). A Study of Knowledge Super networks and Network Robustness in Different Business Incubators. Physica A, 1-16.
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.

  • Receive Date 17 December 2017
  • Revise Date 01 September 2022
  • Accept Date 15 November 2022
  • First Publish Date 15 November 2022
  • Publish Date 22 August 2024

Home

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us