Bat Batjargal, a lecturer at Harvard, has done some fascinating research on the differences in social networks of male and female entrepreneurs. His findings are quite surprising. Excerpt:
Men who are entrepreneurs have a lot in common with their female counterparts: They are young, energetic, and focused to the point of being obnoxious, said Batjargal. But they have very different social networks, and use them in different ways.
Women have larger social networks for advice and resources. But men, surprisingly, have larger “emotional” networks – the complex of associations that provide warmth, praise, and encouragement. And men apparently profit more from these emotional attachments than women do.
“This is probably the most surprising, counterintuitive finding of this research,” said Batjargal. “Men can be very emotional, and they use these emotional ties better than women do.”
(Hat tip to Jenny Slade at the National Center for Women and Information Technology for the pointer)