It’s often said in business – indeed in most professional industries – that when it comes to getting ahead, it’s not a case of what you know but who you know. 

Whether it’s nepo babies getting a foot in the door ahead of other, better-qualified candidates due to the simple privilege of their birth or colleagues who find themselves in favour with the boss gaining the inside line on promotion opportunities. If you’re not in the right circles rubbing shoulders with the right people, it’s likely your career has slumped as a result.

After all, research from Deloitte reveals that not only are 70% of jobs not published on publicly available search sites but up to 80% of positions are typically filled as a result of being known by the right people. And a study of 300 business executives conducted by research firm Penn Schoen Bertland and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business found favouritism to be a prevalent in 84% of organisations, with a further 23% of leaders admitting to such factors influencing their own decisions.

It’s a reality that former LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner referred to as the “Network Gap” – and one he sought to fix by introducing LinkedIn’s Plus One Pledge, which still exists today. The initiative encourages users to seek opportunities to reach beyond their networks to identify others with similar skill sets but more limited circles, volunteering their time and expertise to help others improve their professional prospects.

In short, networks hold value. And, whilst it’s true that everyone is subject to bosses playing favourites to some degree, it’s no surprise that when you consider gender as a contributing factor to career progress, women are identified to feel the impact of favouritism hardest.

Managers routinely hiring and advancing those that they identify most with, has led to a reality where there are more execs named John heading Fortune 500 companies than there are women (named anything!) holding comparable roles.

So how can women force the scales to tip back in their favour? The old boys’ network has long been an influencing presence, from business schools and boardrooms. But, it turns out, such a network exists for women too. More to the point, when it comes to women getting ahead, it works.

Can your Career Plans Begin In Primary School?

Research form Durham University Business School has found that the secret to women’s professional success often has less to do with what (or even where) they study and more to do with who is sitting next to them in class.

The study, conducted by Dr Demid Getik alongside Dr Armando Meier at the University of Basel, explored how the gender composition of primary school classes can impact labour market inequality, and found that when classrooms have more girls than boys, those girls grow up to realise greater career success.

Not only did they hold better roles, women who had studied in predominantly female settings during their time at primary school were found to more commonly choose typically male-dominated school subjects to study. From there, women were then more likely to choose occupations typically dominated by men.

The researchers analysed the education, career histories and salaries of more than 700,000 Swedish students from primary school to the age of 30 to gather their evidence.

Going further, the researchers also considered the impact these classrooms had on another deeply unfair gendered reality of work… wages. 

“Whilst women routinely achieve a higher level of educational attainment in developed countries, a significant gender wage gap persists, with over 70% unexplained by traditional factors like education,” says Dr Getik. “Our study focuses on this disconnect, investigating whether early gender socialisation – specifically exposure to more female peers during critical ages of six to 16 – might help to explain and redress this gap.”

The data revealed that girls who were part of a predominantly female class during school went on to earn more, leading to a reduction in the gender pay gap.

For example, changing from a 45 percent female to a 55 percent female cohort led to an approximate $354 increase in the annual earnings of women, equivalent to a 2.7 percent reduction in the gender wage gap. Taking on roles in traditionally male-occupied environments also helped to boost their earning potential.

Looking long-term beyond the age of 30, the researchers predicted that lifetime earnings could be as much as $12,390 higher for women exposed to a 10% female hike in their school classrooms.

No girls allowed?

So for women who are now looking back at their primary school class photos and taking stock of the gender split, does it mean that if they find themselves in the minority, they’ve missed the boat on getting ahead?

Thankfully not. For those who had more boys than girls around them in their early years, there’s always a chance to start over when they reach university – at least according to research from Yale School of Management.

A study conducted by Yale’s Professor Menaka Hampole alongside Francesca Truffa of the University of Michigan found a similar outcome to Dr Getik when looking at how the make-up of an MBA classroom impacted upon women’s careers. 

Their study, exploring nearly two decades of class data and the subsequent career movements of students via LinkedIn uncovered some sobering yet unsurprising facts. Leadership opportunities for women seemed to become ever more constrained. Whilst 96% of the MBA grads in the study went on to secure management roles within 15 years, women were found to be 24% less likely than men to reach senior management roles within that time frame.

However, when those MBA classes had a higher number of women to men, the playing field became a little more level. The data found that women being exposed to larger female peer groups resulted in an 8.4% increase in the probability of women reaching those senior management roles further down the line. 

Women supporting women

Why does this occur? Professor Hampole’s study had two parts; the second of which explored the social implications of having more women in the room. 

Women, they saw, were instrumental in guiding other women into better opportunities. In the same way that Dr Getik’s primary school classrooms saw girls more willing to take on those typically boy-dominated classes and interests, in the MBA classroom female students were more likely to support and uphold each other, helping to remove those stereotypical assumptions of which genders suited which skill best.

Those networks are often carried from the campus to corporate world. Prof Hampole’s work shared how women would actively guide other women towards firms which held female-friendly policies, offered greater scope for progression and had supportive cultures. This informal helping hand gave greater numbers of women a better starting block and a firmer path up the career ladder. 

It also offered reassurance. One survey respondent remarked that upon receiving a job offer she was far more likely to discuss what support might be in place, or enquire about the company’s maternity policy with a female friend than a hiring manager. Having women in place to contact and answer those questions helped.

The study also noted that such networks did not result in women accepting offers at less prestigious companies or agreeing to lower salaries in order to gain the higher title. The only difference was having a friend on the inside so to speak – the much same way that men have given each other a leg up in the workplace by getting friendly with the boss.

This, of course, has a knock-on effect. The old adage of “you can’t be what you can’t see” rang true when women were then more likely to strive for leadership roles, inspired by seeing their classmates do the same.  

Queen Bee Syndrome

So if women do better around other women, and girls are encouraged to learn a better, more diverse range of skills by having more girls around them, should ambitious parents be aiming to enrol their daughters in all-girl educational settings?

Well, perhaps not. Whilst it can be assumed that all girls schools may enable a fairer crack at the whip for all students, there can be too much of a good thing. Removing boys and men from the room and the discussion does little to challenge gendered ideas and biases – particularly when it comes to skills development or leadership style.

A widely cited study published in 1978 edition of the Biology, Environmental Science journal explored the phenomenon known as Queen Bee Syndrome. Here, the researchers uncovered a troubling pattern of behaviour which emerged when women had beat out other women to take on top roles in typically male spaces. Rather than extending the hand to help other women up, the study found the opposite to be true. Women took on more typically masculine traits to curry favour with male colleagues and in some instances were seen to act to hold other women back – critiquing their female staff far more than male team members or flat our refusing requests to support female progression.

Notably, for both Professor Hampole and Dr Getik, whilst both studies uncovered benefits for women in a majority female classroom setting, they also both recorded a negligible impact upon men. More than this, the Yale researchers found that rather than remaining unaffected by their female classmates’ activities, the male students became advocates for their success, further erasing the gendered barriers that still exist unconsciously in many professions.

But what about the workplace?

It’s somewhat stereotypical to base the strength of women’s networks on the assumptions that women are more emotive, talk and share more, and perhaps that might be a reason why women’s networks or progression pathways in the workplace are still largely under-supported by the powers that be.

But if anything, these studies show that making deliberate efforts to structure group work and study arrangements, in order to enable everyone present to reach their full potential. For business schools, such efforts can enhance the strength of their alumni networks, giving them a stronger ROI to display to future applicants and a compelling reason to enrol.

For companies, countless studies have shown that putting women in positions of power, and creating better balance is not only a sound ethical move, but offers a quantifiable competitive advantage. Research from Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna) finds that women make for more conscientious leaders. It identified that overconfidence was far more prevalent in male CEOs than women, leading to shaky financial performance. Plus, according to a study from NEOMA Business School, introducing a greater gender balance at board level ensured a better level of performance and a more amicable, efficient leadership team.

So what can we learn from this? In an era of cutting back on DEI and outdated gender ideas holding women back from sharing their full potential with their organisations, it might be time to make a more conscious effort.

And, if you’re an ambitious parent, it might be worth taking a closer look at your child’s latest class photo.

By, Kerry Ruffle

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