The purpose of this research is to assess the extent to which the homophily bias visible in the US context occurs in the international work environment. I ask two questions. Backgrounds characteristics can have a different effect in the international context because nations vary in terms of the institutional environment in which work relations occur. For example, women are more recent entrants to the workforce in some countries than in other countries. The legitimacy value of women to each other may be greater when they are more recent entrants into the workplace than when they have a long history of work.
Nationality is also important.
The research should develop in three phases. The initial phase entails identifying the appropriate study population. The sampling frame used to identify the firm is important and the criterion used to identify the study population depends upon which of the two questions posed above is of greater consequence. However, if one wants to assess the extent to which nationality affects work relations, it is better to identify a firm with work environments composed of individuals from different countries. The second phase of the research is to administer a network survey and analyze the responses to the survey.