The networking practices of women managers in an emerging economy setting: negotiating institutional and social barriers

• Author: Saskia Klerk,Martie‐Louise Verreynne
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12151
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• Date: 01 July 2017

The networking practices of women managers in

an emerging economy setting: negotiating

institutional and social barriers

Saskia de Klerk,Schoolof Management, University of New South Wales

Martie-Louis e Verreynne ,UQ Business School,University of Queensland

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 27,no 3, 2017, pages 477–501

Women managers face institutional and social barriers throughout their careers. In this research, we use

networking and symbolic interactionism theories to explain how they network while negotiating these

impediments in an emerging economy setting. Focus-group data revealed three themes. The women in our

study, as predicted by networking theory, use networks to bolster career outcomes, although some also use

non-influential networks or network ineffectively. Next, symbolic interactionism explains how expectations

of, and personalreflections on, networking leadto a lack of confidence and feelings of guilt that can be career

limiting.However,when women understandthat their unique networkingapproach can be powerful,they gain

social capital thatenhances their leadership. Last, patriarchal culturesof emerging economy settings support

stereotypicalgender roles, leavingwomen conflicted between competition and mutualsupport, thus redefining

the so-called Queen Bee phenomenon. We conclude by showing how women can use networking to enhance

career and personal development.

Contact: Dr Saskia de Klerk, School of Management, University of New South Wales, Canberra,

NSW, Australia. Email: s.deklerk@adfa.edu.au

Keywords:women managers; networking;emerging economy;identity; focus group;interactionism

INTRODUCTION

Notwithstanding women’s growing representation in organisational roles and

industries, theyremain under-represented in managerial positions(Tatli et al., 2013).

While equality and diversity in management teams are encouraged, both intentional

and unintentional institutional barriers and discrimination undoubtedly exist in the

workplace (Joshi et al., 2015). Women deal with this in various ways: some relocate or

withdraw (Tomlinson et al., 2013), some enhance their visibility, and some network to build

support (Rastetter and Cornils, 2012). This article offers insight into how female managers in

an emerging economy setting, where women often face discrimination, limited role

expectations and lower wages, use networking to achieve business success (Ndhlovu and

Spring, 2009). Using a focus-group design, we show how networking can assist women to

deal with institutional and social disadvantage by supporting their careers with access to

organisational networks and with sponsors who offer mentorship, emotional assistance and

advice on how to develop and progress in their careers (Durbin and Tomlinson, 2010; Forret

and Dougherty, 2001).

Most gender-related networkingresearch focuseson the differences betweenthe networking

practicesof men and women (Forret and Dougherty,2001, 2004; Hughes et al., 2012).Where the

HUMAN RESOURCEMANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL27, NO 3, 2017 477

©2017 John Wiley& Sons Ltd

Please citethis article in press as: de Klerk,S. and Verreynne, M.-L. (2017)‘The networking practicesof women managers in an emergingeconomy

setting:negotiatinginstitutional andsocial barriers’.HumanResource ManagementJournal 27:3, 477–501

doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12151

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focus has been more overtlyon the experiences of women, it shows how womenmanagers may

be unconsciouslyprejudiced in the workplace by menand how this may influence their career

advancement: focusing on the strategies that organisations can put in place to remedy this

(Ragins andSundstrom, 1989). Instead,we focus on how women’s own expectationslimit their

career advancement and how theycan consciously use their networkstrategies to develop self-

confidence and self-belief. Our first objective is therefore to understand how women frame

their networking practices.

This leads us to look at how women’s symbolic interactions and self-confidence influence

their networking practices. To do so, we apply symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969;

Stryker, 1980) to assist our understanding of how they act in and value networks because of

the subjective meaning that they assign to events and behaviours through processes of ‘self-

perception, decision-making, social-status, power …and politics’(Orser et al., 2010: 953).

Symbolic interactionism is based on the belief that human beings are best understood in a

practical, interactive relation to their environment; indeed, people develop and rely upon in

the process of social interaction to derive symbolic meaning of their environment. People

interpret one another’s behaviour, and these interpretations form the basis of their social

bonds. While the behaviour of women at home, work and as part of society has been the

subject of many studies (Forret and Dougherty, 2004; Tlaiss and Kauser, 2011), less is known

about how they draw their roles and networks in all of these areas together to build their

careers (Ibarra, 1993; Rutashobya et al., 2009). Our second objective therefore focuses on how

social interactions help women to developthe confidence to use networks more effectively for

career purposes.

Research calls for scholars ‘to go both broader and deeper into understanding the

complexitiesthat define gender inequality on a global stage’(Joshiet al., 2015: 1472). As our last

research objective, we extend the researchabout individual women to emergingeconomies. In

this setting, most research has focused on the role of the organisation, for example, to

investigate how multinationals redress gender imbalances through network training and

offering greateraccess to opportunities (Rashid,2010; Tatli et al., 2013; Tlaissand Kauser, 2011),

and work flexibility(Durbin and Tomlinson, 2010). Whilesuch research provides guidance on

how to coordinate organisational practice to create and gain access to career advancement

opportunities,our research goes further.We highlight how women in emergingeconomies can

adapt their own practices and take more responsibility for their own careers by having more

control over their networking strategies.

As such, the objectives of this research are to understand the following: how women

frame their networking, how women’s social interactions influence their self-confidence and

ability to develop networks that enhance their careers, and how women managers in an

emerging economy setting use networks to negotiate obstacles on an institutional and social

level. We structure this article as follows: we discuss this emerging economy setting by

considering the institutional and social dimensions of networking theoretically (i.e.

networking, symbolic interactionism and identity theory) and pragmatically. We then

outline our methodology and present the main themes that emerged from the analysis of

our data. We conclude with how we contribute to social networking research and provide a

more holistic view of how women in emerging economies can use networking and social

interaction to drive their own careers. We show how productive and influential networks

offer access to information, support and personal development opportunities, but that

women do not always access such networks. We note how masculine structures in an

emerging economy is limiting, but can be addressed if women have self-confidence and

social capital.

Women networkingfor career and personal advancement

478 HUMANRESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL,VOL 27, NO 3, 2017

©2017 John Wiley& Sons Ltd.