Top 10 Things Women in Business Should Know

Young women today receive all sorts of professional advice on how to succeed from pundits, the popular press, and even fashion magazines. Unfortunately, the advice women are receiving is not helping to close the gender gap at the top levels of organizations. In fact, according to a recent Catalyst study, when women follow the advice from their managers and popular literature, they are actually less likely to be promoted.

 

In response, I spent last semester taking an independent study researching, structuring, and synthesizing findings from social science to better understand what young women can do to minimize discrimination and maximize their chances for success in the professional world. Findings are based on research, experiments, and statistical analyses from some of the top scholars in the field of psychology, sociology, and organizational behavior. Below are my most interesting findings and recommendations for my peers and myself:

 

Surround Yourself with the Right People

 

Tip 1: Build a network of powerful people. Research by Gail McGuire shows that women tend to benefit less from networking than their male peers. This is because they are networking with less powerful and less influential individuals—not because they have smaller networks or weaker networking skills.

 

How to do it: Instead of dismissing networking as “political,” find a person who you respect who is also a successful networker and model your behavior after him or her.

 

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