Network Advantage: Women

Women are naturals when it comes to building relational capital, although less effective in leveraging it. For perspective on this dynamic, check out the results of ExecuNet’s Executive Job Market Intelligence Report (executive summary free with registration; via Wendy Terwelp at Rock Your Career).

In brief, women rated their networks higher than men in categories of quality, relationship strength and reciprocity. The key factor: 2/3rds more women than men stated that they actively work on building their professional relationships. Good news? Yes, but the situation is similar to the technology adoption upside noted by Lena West in her Women & Technology Battlecry post on Lip-Sticking. In this case, only 10-15% of women rated their networks as "excellent". The majority of women (and men) rated their networks as "good". Women's highest ratings are in the "relationship strength" category, where "excellent" and "very good" total to 47%, or the same as the "good" category.

Despite a network advantage relative to men, women are still less visible in the corporate C-suite. My opinion is this is largely due to socialization (what and how we communicate as women) differences – a failure to effectively differentiate, focus and promote that translates into a lack of visibility and credibility. That is, women are often not even under consideration for key projects or promotions. Cited in a study on The Gender Equity Gap in Top Corporate Executive Positions, Towers Perrin's Manager of Executive Compensation Research and Development Pamelia Todd states: "There's a problem with women becoming highly paid. But the problem is getting the high-level job in the first place, not getting paid fairly once you get there." The study's authors, Joanne Burress & Linda Zucca, concur: "the significant differences between male and female executives (after controlling for job title, company size, and industry membership) are human capital differences such as age and years of service in their job positions rather than compensation."