Theorizing Gender in Social Network Research: What We Do and What We Can Do Differently

We review the ways in which gender is theorized in social network research and propose an alternative approach for future research to consider. To assess “what we do,” we undertake an evaluative review. In that review, we first examine how gender is typically theorized in structural approaches to social network research. Then, in greater detail, we review social network research that affords more diversity into such theorizing. We organize this more detailed review around a framework that is based on the level of analysis at which the implications of gender are invoked (cognitive, behavioral) and the focus of relational mechanisms that are used (ego based, alter based). Following this review of “what we do,” we consider “what we can do differently” by reflecting on the state of the literature and proposing a broad agenda, which we see as an alternative to many of the current approaches. We illustrate the implications of this alternative using four research topics and approaches.