July 10, 2011

LinkedIn weighs in on 'Battle of the Networking Sexes'

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Looking for a lively discussion at your next career mixer? How about an argument about whether men or women are better at networking? That ought to break some ice (or perhaps ice over some people).

While this humble blogger won't touch this controversy with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole, LinkedIn has attempted to name a winner in the eternal Battle of the Sexes with a recent report about which gender is better equipped to handle online social networking. To measure this ability, LinkedIn created what it calls a "savviness ranking." Basically, the analytics team looked a ratio of two metrics: 1) the ratio of overall connections that men have vs. the connections that women have, and 2) the ratio of male LinkedIn members vs. female members.

The online network separated the data not only by gender but also by profession to see where each sex had the upper hand, in terms of social networking. For example, Scott Nicholson, senior data scientist at LinkedIn, said on the LinkedIn blog that if an industry has a slight minority in women participants, yet has a majority of online connections within that industry, it is considered to be "female savvy" by LinkedIn. Those industries in which the gender representation is roughly equal to the percentage of online connections for that gender are said to be neutral, he added.

And the results? Overall, men appear to be better online networkers than women. (Please direct all hate mail to LinkedIn's Press Center.)

"Women can sometimes shy away from networking because they associate it with schmoozing or doling out business cards, when in reality, it's about building relationships before you actually need them," explained Nicole Williams, LinkedIn's connection director. "Having the right connections can make a difference when it comes to sealing a deal or landing a new client."

Breaking the results down into professions, here are some of the LinkedIn findings that may shed some light on how each gender does within particular industries:

The top five U.S. industries in which women are "savvier" online networkers:
1. Alternative dispute resolution
2. Tobacco
3. Alternative medicine
4. Ranching
5. International trade and development

The top five U.S. industries in which men are "savvier" online networkers:
1. Medical practice
2. Hospital and health care
3. Cosmetics
4. Law enforcement
5. Capital markets

Some of the professions that were considered "neutral" included market research, media production, dairy, individual and family services, and paper and forest products.

These results may seem initially surprising -- one might not expect women to be more connected in the traditionally male-dominated tobacco or ranching industries; the same goes for men in cosmetics. But as LinkedIn's data analytics team admits, this may be explained by one minority gender having to network harder than the majority in order to succeed.

Of course, the other, more serious limitation with LinkedIn's methodology is the definition of the metrics. The study looked at the relative size of networks between genders, but it says nothing about the efficacy of these networks. (Insert your "size doesn't matter" joke here.) Are men or women landing jobs any faster through their online networking efforts? Does a larger social network translate into more successful job leads? LinkedIn did not release data on this, so we can only go on number of contacts as a guide. Much more analysis is needed before this battle can end.

So, what is your take on this argument? Have any Hire Ground readers come to any conclusions about whether women or men have any advantages when it comes to networking? Let me know!

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Read more
gender, LinkedIn, networking, social media

1 Comments

alternative medicine on March 31, 2012 8:55 AM | Reply

This site is nice and amazing. I love your post! It's also nice to see someone who does a lot of research and has a great knack for ting, which is pretty rare from bloggers these days.
Thanks!
alternative medicine

Leave a comment

* required field

Your name: *

E-mail address: (Will not be displayed)

Your comment: *

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.