Learning from Academia: The Importance of Relationships in Professional Life

In-depth interviews with business school faculty members suggest that work relationships are more than strategically chosen means to career mobility. Relationships are career-defining ends as well, and negative relationships may be as consequential as helpful ties. Findings also showed significant gender differences: women, more than men, told stories about harm; men, more than women, told stories about help. Work- place relationships may play different roles for professionals and managers, and men's and women's different relational experiences may foster different career logics, or ways of striving for success.