The Reduction of Sponsorship Effectiveness

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Is it possible to overdo it on the sponsorship side that, you know, that somehow in throwing your weight behind someone, your protege that you overspend that you lose clout? That's one of the working hypotheses around kind of the reduced effectiveness of female sponsors. And so I think one kind of open question is, are female sponsors kind of like spreading their social capital thin? Well, we definitely look forward to following your research as you get some empirical answers to these questions.

Having a sponsor — someone who can use their influence to push your career forward — is invaluable. But how exactly they do this, and what your role is in making it happen, isn’t always clear-cut. Who should we be seeking to sponsor us? Should sponsors be candid with their proteges about what they’re doing on their behalf?

We pose these questions and others to Rosalind Chow, a researcher who studies sponsorship. She clarifies some of the ambiguity and talks about what should be transparent and what should stay unspoken. Then we hear how one of these relationships works between two lawyers, as well as between Nicole and Amy B.

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