An analytical study of members of a horizontal women's professional and managerial network as related to diffusion theory

Abstract

This study of a horizontal women's professional and managerial network investigated what women perceived as possible benefits of network affiliation and attempted to build a profile of women who belonged. Using diffusion theory of social network analysis as a theoretical framework, the research attempted to determine whether the networking process contributed to the career development and personal development of the women involved.Findings indicated a majority found their women's network experiences valuable for information exchange, increased contacts, friendship, support, and personal skills and knowledge; almost 49 percent also felt their experiences had been valuable in general career development.The research indicated a direct relationship between the degree of involvement with network activities and evidence that the involvement helped the individual's career. The higher the involvement, the greater the likelihood of positive career effects. The same direct relationship was evidenced with involvement and personal development.The findings showed that the majority (54.7 percent) of the population of women professional, managerial and technical workers (PTM's) had found their current job through personal contacts, a form of networking. This finding demonstrated that this informal method of jobfinding was as effective for women PTM's as has been shown for men in past studies.Because this study represented a first research attempt to gather systematic data about a horizontal women's employment network, a demographic profile and comparisons to a vertical women's network were included.The instrument was an 8-page questionnaire administered to a randomly selected sample of 90 members of a women's network (N = 451) in a telephone interview.