Gendered networking only succeeds when purpose is well defined

Amina invested her firm’s resources in buying tickets, allocating travel time, and preparation for the events because she especially wanted her younger female managers to build confidence and visibility.

However, she quietly noticed that when many participants returned back from the events energised emotionally, they simultaneously felt uncertain about what tangible career outcomes they could pursue thereafter.

Over time, some of Amina’s senior managers dismissed the networkings as ceremonial while the mid-career women at the company complained about internal intense competition disguised as solidarity around the mission, vision and values.

However, junior staff members, by contrast, praised the internal firm atmosphere and spoke enthusiastically about friendships and encouragement.

Amina listened carefully. She began to wonder why a space designed to empower women sometimes produced confusion, frustration or disengagement instead of collective momentum. Amina decided to dig deeper and deploy a staff engagement survey.

A new global study by Patricia Hein, Marjo Diehl and Karin Kreutzer released this week helps explain what Amina observed in her own organisation around the value of same gender networking functions.

The researchers examined women-only networking events across Europe and uncovered that women attach extremely different meanings to networking with other women. While some women pursue status and credibility, other ladies seek immediate instrumental career gains.

Interestingly, the study highlights a critical distinction between enforced and agentic gender homophily. What on earth does this mean?

Essentially, in compulsory situations, organisations typically design events from the top-down and pressure women to attend under the narrow-minded assumption that shared gender alone guarantees connection.

The study found that it often leads women to withdraw or cluster narrowly with peers of similar rank or social standing. In contrast, independent settings allow women themselves to shape the purpose, format and goals of networking.

The research also reveals how same gendered all male or all female organisational experiences shapes behaviour inside networking spaces. Regarding all female networking events, the researchers posit that senior women often prioritise business focused conversations.

While mid-career women face bottlenecks and intense competition in their current career ambition and more junior ranked women in firms approach networking with much more optimism and expressive energy.

Here in Kenya, our firms and professional associations can draw powerful lessons from the study. Same gender networking succeeds when organisers define its purpose, focus on shared professional goals, and design interaction around collaboration rather than mere symbolism.

Progress only emerges when organisations trust participants to build networks that reflect their real ambitions, challenges and capabilities.

In conclusion, magic does not happen simply because all women or all men gather in one room. Certainly male-dominated organisations should not make assumptions for what would best empower and connect women.

Kenya holds extraordinary female talent across every sector, and intentional agentic networking can convert our homegrown talent into leadership, innovation, and institutional change.

Have a management or leadership issue, question or challenge? Reach out to Dr. Scott through @ScottProfessor on Twitter or on email [email protected]