Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses

CHAPTER 8•BUILDING USEFUL NETWORKS 177

Whether consciously or unconsciously, they develop codes and behav-

iors that can lock others out of these networks. If women are among the

“outgroup,” they will have a difficult time accessing the information,

knowledge, and resources that are shared readily within the “ingroup.”

This is particularly true of informal networks, where admission stan-

dards for membership are not clearly articulated.

Group behaviors are facilitated by symbols and artifacts in the cul-

ture and reinforced by the media (magazines, television programs,

books, newspapers, videos, etc.). Consider recent television commer-

cials that depict people interacting in a business setting. Is the group

predominantly male? What is the breakdown ...