But fear doesn’t tell the whole story. Research shows women’s perception of what they get from a network is different too. A study by Harvard Business Review found that women prioritise building strong relationships over self-promotion and use networks to achieve organisational goals, indicating a focus on knowledge-sharing and support. In contrast, 83% of men believe “who you know” is crucial for success, suggesting a career-driven approach.

That’s exactly how I consider my network – a place to have rich conversations with other women. But I also think we spend too much time telling women to help each other or “be more confident”, when we should be teaching everyone how to break down structures that limit women and minority communities. We can only change something when we really understand what the problem is. This data reveals not just the networking gap but also how everyone can work to close it.

By reframing how we think about our networks, we can maintain that amazing support of brilliant women while getting the opportunities that are open to others too. A huge win-win. Here are three simple ways to make that change.

We need to close the networking gap – here’s how to make it easier