Written by Prerna Aswani
It doesn’t come as news that networks are crucial for professional success- it’s often not about what you know, but who you know. Some estimates show in fact that 80% of jobs are filled through networking.[1] Yet, as we at inHive know all too well, young people’s access to networks are highly unequal and those at the bottom of the income pyramid simply do not have the same access to ‘social capital’- whether this be their parents’ connections or contacts from elite university experiences.
But the barriers to effective networking can go far beyond institutional obstacles. At inHive we’ve been thinking about how gender and culture can also shape young people’s ability to network. One academic study has suggested that in addition to the structural exclusion, internal hesitation often serves as a greater barrier for women than men. This internal hesitation, Greguletz, Diehl and Kreutzer[2] argue boils down to two reasons;
- Gendered modesty: women’s predisposition to underestimate and undersell their professional self-worth, and
- Moral concerns about ‘exploiting’ social ties causes them to under-benefit from networking activities[3]
Reflecting on this research and our own experiences in the field we argue that the type of network and how individuals in the network relate to one another matters: Greguletz, Diehl and Kreutzer’s research is based on a study of 37 high-profile female leaders working in large German corporations. In the corporate setting it is unsurprising that with the already high levels of gender inequality in positions of power, soft barriers such as internal hesitation is augmented. In contrast, community-based women’s only alumni networks such as the CAMA network, comprising of female leaders educated through support from CAMFED, have proven to not only be incredibly impactful but also incredibly empowering for its members. Young women within the CAMA network are the driving force behind supporting each other and community improvement in their rural areas as well as shaping the strategic priorities of their parent organisation, CAMFED. The key difference in settings like CAMA vs. corporate networks are relatability with their peers and the sense of a shared purpose. The women in the CAMA network are all connected by a shared experience of being educated through CAMFED’s programs and a cleared shared purpose towards developing their communities and resolving local challenges. In contrast, in professional networks where each individual is there for their own advancement, concerns around modesty and exploiting social ties can feel heightened.
Further, it is important to acknowledge that moral concerns about exploiting social ties is not simply a gendered concern but rather shaped by cultural contexts as well. The Culture Map,[4] a book that reflects on the different styles of working and communicating in different cultures points out that in some cultures there is a high sense of deference for seniors within organisational or social hierarchy. This idea struck a chord with my own experience of supporting professional development of rural Indian scholarship students in the UK. When connected with senior leadership and professionals in the sectors they were interested in, they seemed to struggle to take these relationships forward beyond the first meeting. When probed further it emerged that the key barriers these students were facing to building long-term relationships with those they had been connected with was not staying in touch frequently enough-not because they didn’t want to get in touch, but rather were worried about ‘disturbing’ busy professionals if they didn’t have a concrete ask. This meant that they never socially ‘checked in’ with those they had been connected with, preventing them from building those relationships of trust that are so crucial for professional networking.
Networks are crucial, but networking is a skill that needs to be inculcated and harnessed. Internal hesitation can pose what can feel like a huge and insurmountable soft barrier for young people to building effective networks for themselves. This internal hesitation can be driven by a number of factors, ranging from gendered norms of behaviour, cultural ‘rules’ of engagement, or simply being a shy personality! School alumni networks develop this skill early on, in a ‘comfortable’, and familiar environment. Such alumni networks provide young people to reconnect with alumni that they would have seen at school a few years ago, and there is a sense of relatability that comes from being a similar age. Getting accustomed to networking can then help to develop the professional networking skills that young people take forward with them for the rest of their lives.
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/how-to-get-a-job-often-comes-down-to-one-elite-personal-asset.html?fbclid=IwAR1_o7oZb1GuuLNHLDlhY72UUJrSfxWtp-FdZhZZEtIiSbOU6c9C065GTcg
[2] Greguletz, Elena, Marjo-Riitta Diehl, and Karin Kreutzer. “Why Women Build Less Effective Networks than Men: The Role of Structural Exclusion and Personal Hesitation.” Human Relations 72, no. 7 (July 2019): 1234–61. doi:10.1177/0018726718804303.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Meyer, E. (2014). The culture map: Breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business. Public Affairs.