Social media helps job prospects for economists

1 min read

In a controlled field experiment on Twitter, researchers Qiu J and colleagues investigated whether social media promotion can improve job market outcomes for economics candidates. To do so, they collected tweets about job market papers from 519 candidates and posted them from a dedicated account. This created an "exposure" group that would normally reach a limited audience.

The researchers then randomized half of the posts to be quote-tweeted by established economists in the candidates' fields. This "treatment" group was designed to amplify the post's visibility and credibility, potentially increasing its impact on hiring outcomes. The control group received no such amplification. By doing so, the researchers could isolate the causal effect of social media promotion on job market outcomes.

The results suggest that social media promotion can indeed have a positive impact on job market outcomes for economics candidates. Posts in the treatment group received 441% more views and 303% more likes than those in the control group. Furthermore, candidates whose posts were assigned to be quote-tweeted received one additional flyout invitation compared to the control group average of 5.4 flyouts. Notably, women in the treatment group also received 0.9 more job offers than women in the control group, who received an average of three job offers.

As we consider the implications of this study, it's worth reflecting on how social media can be a powerful tool for amplifying marginalized voices in academia. The fact that women in the treatment group received more job offers suggests that even small increases in visibility and credibility can have significant effects for underrepresented groups. This finding underscores the importance of using social media to promote diverse research and perspectives, potentially creating a more inclusive and equitable academic landscape.

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In a world where our online presence can feel like a double-edged sword, one researcher wondered if promoting our work on social media could actually help us land our next job. Dr. Qiu and her team set out to test this idea in a unique experiment.

They started by collecting tweets from 519 job candidates who were looking for work in economics, and then randomly assigned half of those tweets to be shared with established economists in the field. The researchers tracked how these tweets performed online, finding that the ones shared with experts received nearly five times more views and over three times more likes than the others. But what really caught their attention was the impact on hiring outcomes: women who tweeted about their research were offered jobs 0.9 more times than those who didn't participate in the experiment.

This study may seem like a small thing, but it speaks to a bigger question about how we present ourselves online and how that affects our chances of success. By taking a closer look at the impact of social media promotion on academic job outcomes, Dr. Qiu and her team offer us a glimpse into the power of connection and collaboration in our own careers – and a reminder that even the smallest actions can have a profound effect.

1 min read

Two researchers, Qiu and her team, wanted to know if social media could help academics find jobs. They looked at how people shared their research on Twitter (now X) and tried to figure out if this helped get them hired.

They did an experiment where they posted tweets from 519 job applicants about their papers. Half of the posts were then sent to famous economists in the field, who would share them with more people. The researchers found that these shared posts got a lot more views and likes than the ones without any extra help. Women who had their posts shared also got slightly more job offers, which was surprising because not many women are hired as academics.