Networking can boost your earnings and get you promoted – but it’s harder for women to reap the benefits

For many workers, the benefits of professional relationships and the networks they create are clear. Bringing together people and social spheres that are otherwise unconnected is linked to higher salaries and more rapid promotion. So it’s no surprise that “networking” is a serious business for so many professionals.

In network theory, the process of linking unconnected people and groups – either within the workplace or outside it – is known as “brokerage”. When you’re a broker, your networks are “open”, with lots of links to unconnected people. All these connections give brokers access to potentially useful information – after all, people who don’t know each other are likely to know different things.

And continued networking, where more new relationships are generated over time, is important to maintain the benefits. Otherwise, networks can grow stale. Being close to the “centre” of the network (having more network ties) brings additional benefits in terms of access to knowledge, information and resources.

But as in many other aspects of life, gender is a fundamental force in terms of professional relationships and the structure of professional networks. It may come as little surprise that women face disadvantages compared to men – both in the positions they hold within networks and the characteristics of their contacts.

For example, women’s networks tend to contain fewer men. Men still hold more positions of power than women in organisations, which leaves women with fewer senior-level connections. Women also tend to find themselves closer to the edge than the centre of organisational networks. Separately, they are less likely to be brokers.

Women’s networks also tend to be “stickier” – where old ties are less likely to be replaced with new ones. These new ties can help to keep the access to information fresh. What’s more, women tend to receive lower returns from the positions they occupy in their networks. For example, even when women are brokers they tend not to enjoy the benefits that can lead to rapid promotion in the way that men might.

The root of the problem

There are many reasons for these disadvantages. First, women usually carry a greater burden of unpaid domestic caring work than men in heterosexual couples (the so-called “second shift”). This can eat up the time that women could otherwise use investing in professional networks. It’s even more acute for mothers or the (mostly) women who care for adult relatives.

Second, the stereotypes of “assertive” men and “communal” women have an effect on organisational networks. Women who occupy strong network positions may not conform to this stereotype of co-operation and communality, which might be frowned upon. For the same reason, men are often seen as more legitimate or useful networking partners.

This also explains why women tend to feel “stereotype threat” (where people fear living up to negative stereotypes) when they are brokers. They may be sensitive to being seen negatively for violating this stereotype.

Similarly, homophily (the tendency for people to form relationships with those they see as similar to themselves) can harm women’s network position and the returns they get, especially in organisations with more men than women. In these situations, women can miss out on senior-level connections (who are more likely to be men). Or they may just end up with smaller networks.

While all women face barriers to network success, there are strategies that can help them to overcome these. Successful women tend to embrace network churn by keeping a core group of contacts but otherwise strategically changing their professional networks. This can help to keep contacts fresh.

And the most successful women have been shown to resist the temptation to focus purely on social support from their contacts. Instead (or in addition), they seek more strategic support – things like introductions and information.

Of course, these strategies all involve women doing extra work to navigate environments that were not built for them. So it is important for employers to take steps to mitigate these problems. This can also help organisations retain staff, and it can help to tackle other workplace problems related to gender biases.

It doesn’t have to be difficult. Employers can structure teams or committees to increase opportunities for interaction between women and senior men. They can also run surveys to map the social networks in their organisations to identify exclusion and disadvantage. Lastly, they can educate senior staff and executives about the issues.

Ultimately, everyone should understand the importance of networking to an employee’s prospects and how they can help to share out the benefits equally.

Andrew Kloeden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.