School of Economics and Management Tsinghua U., China
As organizations increasingly shift from seniority-based hierarchies to fostering dynamic leadership pathways, nascent leaders—those assuming leadership roles for the first time—are becoming more prevalent. Despite their rising importance, little research has examined how nascent leaders impact newcomer’s socialization process. Drawing on role transition theory, we propose that nascent leaders’ dual perspective as both former subordinates and new leaders enhances their willingness to sponsor newcomers, facilitating their social integration. We further theorize that leader-newcomer gender congruence, particularly in female-female dyads, strengthens the effectiveness of sponsorship by reducing psychological barriers to resource utilization. We test our hypotheses using two complementary studies. Study 1 validates the full theoretical model using archival data from 7,095 new graduates, showing that nascent leaders enhance sponsorship behaviors, improving newcomer’s workplace status and reducing turnover, with these effects moderated by gender congruence. Study 2 employs a vignette experiment to establish causality, focusing on the link between nascent leaders and sponsorship behaviors. Our research contributes to a nuance understanding of how nascent leaders shape newcomer integration through sponsorship behaviors and how gender dynamics influence these processes.
