Women need networking too!

Last 2-3 years have been monumental in terms of the number of people I have met from various walks of life with different backgrounds. I have had many interesting conversations and one such conversation stood out. It was on women empowerment and why we have too few women leaders.

This conversation invoked a curiosity in me about the subject and I started being more observant of people around and exploring possible reasons that contribute towards lesser women being on top positions in any organization. My observation has led me to strongly believe that networking or rather the lack of it among women, is one of the many reasons why we have too few women leaders.

“In today’s market, networking has become the lifeblood of a fruitful professional life. Sometimes it is dismissed as the unseemly activity of overly ambitious professionals ascending the ladder of careerism. Leadership today is increasingly defined not just by how many hours you spend at your computer, but your ability to connect to others, how you incorporate outside perspectives, and how you navigate groups.” Carol Bartz, Former CEO of Yahoo.

Most of the important decisions in corporate are sealed over a dinner, party, after party, sports or some other event. It hardly happens in the office boardroom.

I am sharing my understanding of what are the possible barriers to networking for women. And I invite you to share your perspective on whether this strikes a chord with you.

I think there are some societal expectations/factors that restrict women from networking. In past 10-15 years, I have observed a shift in how girls interact with boys when we they are kids to how men and women interact when they “grow up”.

When we are kids, we have lesser barriers to friendships/networking and they are more or less guided by our parents through their own perceptions of other people - good, bad, etc. A statement like this is commonly heard – “Beta, don’t hang around with this person, he is not right!” or “Beta, go and meet Sharma Ji’s son, he can guide you on how to prepare for the exam”. So, the kind of person you add to your network is largely influenced by your parents and teachers. As and when we grow, we tend to take our own decisions on whom to interact with and we are less influenced by our parents and gravitate more towards what our peer group thinks about other people. When we start working, these decisions are influenced more by who can assist us in our career growth.

Everything so far sounds pretty simple and it seems like things are same for everyone irrespective of gender. But is it really so? Let us have a look at how interactions between opposite genders and among same gender change as we grow up.

In school, kids have similar number of friends (or aquaintances) irrespective of their gender. This number changes differently for men and women through different stages of life. Once the work-life kicks in, this circle or network remains more or less the same till the time people are single but diminishes drastically after marriage. Networking between opposite gender decreases. New people from opposite gender don’t get added to the network with the same frequency as before and the contact with old ones also reduces. Female professionals face an additional challenge. For many, the elusive work-life balance is paramount. They are busy at work and at home and don’t want to take more time away from their families or personal interests. As a result, networking gets put on the back burner for women. And often their network reduces to few other women.

Currently, the top management of all the institutions are already occupied with men. There are very few women out there. Also the networks and most networking events include men predominantly. Women miss out on good opportunities. Failing to network can be damaging to their career. Unless and until this changes, chances of more women being in the top management team are pretty slim.

Joanna Barsh of McKinsey & Company says that women’s lack of access to informal networks is a structural obstacle to their career advancement, comparable in impact to lacking a mentor, or appropriate coaching and training.

Would be really excited to hear what you have to share. How close or different are your observations from mine. Do you think networking is crucial for career development and advancement? Are women missing out on the opportunities because they fail to maintain their already existing networks and creating new ones? Can we as a society make it easier for women to nourish their professional network even after they start building their families?