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RALEIGH – A new N.C. State study shows white males have an advantage over women in minorities in getting informal tips about job opportunities.

Researchers surveyed a representative sample of 3,000 people across the U.S. and found white men get, on average, more job information that white women and minorities. The disparity becomes even greater for higher level management jobs.

"Any way that women and racial minorities can gain better access to information, by learning more about networking opportunities or things like this, or basically providing some sort of opportunities to gain better access to this sort of information is really what would be most needed," Steve McDonald, with N.C. State, said.

Wake County Human Services has two programs that work mainly with minorities and entry-level job placements. Program Director Tony Zarcone said "Working for Kids" and "Pro-Familia" also include sessions that teach clients how to network and help each other find jobs. He said the study confirms what many have already known.

"I'm not surprised," Zarcone said. "That's the kind of opportunities I guess white males have been getting for a long time, and we've tried to bring that for our clients and to our clients that they have the same opportunities."

Similar programs have worked for people like Alice Osborn.

As a writer and teacher, Osborn has seen her client base at least double in size since joining the women's professional networking group "Coffee and Contacts."

"We have these one-on-ones and we just get together for an hour, cup of coffee or lunch. And it's not business. We don't talk about business right off the bat," Osborn said. "We talk about ourselves and what our passions are and what challenges we've been facing in business. And that way, we really get to know the other person."