An opportunity or an obstacle for women?

[Pelican Press 0]

An opportunity or an obstacle for women?

by Miryam Martinez Martinez, Gabriela Contreras and Susana González Pérez,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Networking can help to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

informal working relationships. When done right, it can be a mutually beneficial exchange among

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, often leading to new opportunities or even promotions, making it a fundamental ingredient of professional success.

However, despite its

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, people can often feel uncomfortable or insincere when networking, and do not find it necessary or effective.

Understanding and confronting the challenges of networking is a crucial part of preventing talent loss, and of creating an equitable working environment.

Women and networking

The need for creating and expanding professional networks is especially pronounced for women, who are less represented than men in leadership roles, and often have to work ******* to get noticed and advance in their careers.

In 2020, women occupied less than 30% of the highest ranking positions across the world, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that gender equality in management will not be reached for another century. Studies have shown that this gap cannot be exclusively attributed to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

: the gender dynamics of networking play an important role.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from the 1990s and early 2000s has shown that women frequently find themselves excluded from informal networks, which are

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Family responsibilities place further limits on women’s ability to take part in networking events outside of the regular working day. While men might share these responsibilities, they are much more likely to affect women.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

asks the question of whether the gendered impact of networking continues to fuel the gender gap in senior management, despite the cultural changes, policies of inclusion, diversity, equality and gender quotas that have emerged since earlier studies.

How networking affects careers

In our research, we analyzed the experiences of 901 managers and executives (both male and female), with the aim of looking closely at the different impacts of networking on men’s and women’s careers. Data was gathered via an online survey, and included questions on networking habits (

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

), as well as questions on career achievements such as promotions and raises.

The study confirmed a positive correlation between networking activities and professional success among both men and women. However, this general trend belies the fact that, for women, some networking practices may be more effective than others.

A double-edged sword

For women, networking is a double-edged sword, in that it can present both opportunities and obstacles to career progression. In particular, our results showed that women who strive to get noticed by taking on project leadership roles may actually be penalized in their long term career development, unlike their male counterparts. This disparity stems from entrenched gender norms and social expectations surrounding networking and social behavior.

Women, often constrained by traditional gender roles, may find success in fostering professional relationships through informal channels, thus aligning themselves with social expectations of cooperation, care and socialization. However, attempts to assert themselves through proactive action may have adverse consequences, as they risk being perceived as too aggressive or ambitious. This, in turn, can lead to dissatisfaction if it is not reflected in recognition or career advancement.

Our results highlight the need for companies to create an equitable working culture, where success is defined by talent and merit alone, and not by who gets noticed. In such an environment, qualified women would not miss out on being deservedly promoted or rewarded, which can result in feelings of discouragement and, ultimately, the loss of significant talent from a company.

Provided by
The Conversation

This article is republished from

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

under a Creative Commons license. Read the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Citation:
Networking: An opportunity or an obstacle for women? (2024, March 11)
retrieved 11 March 2024
from

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Science, Physics News, Science news, Technology News, Physics, Materials, Nanotech, Technology, Science
#opportunity #obstacle #women

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up