Network Logic - Index of
Network Logic - Index of
Network Logic - Index of
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Old boys and new girls<br />
Nevertheless, women’s networks are also a symptom <strong>of</strong> another,<br />
less celebratory aspect <strong>of</strong> women’s working lives. Alongside the<br />
unprecedented opportunities now available to them, women continue<br />
to experience gender-related disadvantage in their status in the<br />
workforce. For example, women working full-time earn on average<br />
18.8 per cent less than the average hourly earnings <strong>of</strong> male full-time<br />
employees. They make up just 9 per cent <strong>of</strong> directors in FTSE 100<br />
companies, 13 per cent <strong>of</strong> small business owners and 23 per cent <strong>of</strong><br />
top managers in the civil service, 5 yet account for 79 per cent <strong>of</strong><br />
administrative and secretarial occupations. 6 At the same time women<br />
continue to work a ‘second shift’ by taking on the lion’s share <strong>of</strong><br />
domestic work and childcare. 7<br />
In their modus operandi women’s networks hold a mirror up to this<br />
phenomenon <strong>of</strong> growing opportunity and persisting inequality.<br />
While celebrating women’s achievements and advancements, many,<br />
either explicitly or implicitly, hold women’s continuing underrepresentation<br />
and lack <strong>of</strong> progression in their chosen field as major<br />
points <strong>of</strong> reference. Underlying this position is the normative<br />
assumption that women are disadvantaged relative to men in building<br />
successful careers, and this basic narrative <strong>of</strong> inequality is what thus<br />
justifies the existence <strong>of</strong> women-centred initiatives, such as networks.<br />
To this extent, women’s networks might be accurately described as<br />
‘feminist’ organisations, although few would choose to describe their<br />
activities in these terms. Indeed, this distancing from the ideological<br />
legacy <strong>of</strong> second-wave feminism may well be one <strong>of</strong> the greatest<br />
strengths <strong>of</strong> women’s networks, in that they provide a model <strong>of</strong><br />
affiliation and mutual support which has wide appeal, especially to<br />
younger women.<br />
Old boys and new girls<br />
A concern with the position <strong>of</strong> women in the labour market is not<br />
unique to women’s networks, and is shared with any number <strong>of</strong><br />
policy-makers, academics and pressure groups working in this field. It<br />
remains to be asked then: what is special or distinctive about peer-topeer<br />
networks as an organisational form for achieving change in this<br />
Demos 121