Wednesday, February 3, 2021

You Schmooze, You Win

Schmoozing is good for your career. But it may be contributing to the lack of women in management roles

In the US, almost half of entry-level workers are women, but only 38 percent of middle managers, 22 percent of C-suite managers, and 5 percent of CEOs are women. Women are more likely to have postsecondary education and are able to get into good entry-level jobs, but seem stuck because they don’t have access to the old-boys club the way men do.

• Women don’t get invited to after- work events by men, partly because these male managers fear their motives may be called into question.

• When women are invited, they are more likely to turn down the opportunity, primarily for two reasons:

1. They have to work their “second job”—doing the majority of the household tasks in their family.
2. They feel out of place—it’s tough to be the only person of your gender at an event.

A recent study was able to tie how the gender of the manager changed the speed at which men and women advanced.

• Men who switch from having female to male managers had 13 percent higher pay than men who switched from male to female managers.

• Women who switched from having male to female managers had no advantage over those who moved from female to male managers.

The effect was most prominent in workplaces where schmoozing with management was common.

The same effect was observed among smokers. Male managers who smoked were more likely to promote male workers who also smoked, as they took smoke breaks and socialized together.

Men who are managers are more likely to promote other men because they socialize with them more frequently. They, in turn, promote other men.

And so the cycle continues. Women are less likely to be promoted, even when they are just as or even more competent than men.

You Schmooze, You Win

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