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The purpose of this paper is to review the emerging literature on formal women-only business networks and outline propositions to develop this under-theorised area of knowledge and stimulate future research.

The authors review the existing literature on formal internal and external women-only networks and use the broader social capital and network literature to frame their arguments and develop propositions.

Propositions are developed regarding how both internal and external formal women-only business networks can be of value for members, firms/organisations and the wider social group of women in business.

The authors focus on the distinction between external and internal formal women-only networks while also acknowledging the broader diversity that can characterise such networks. Their review provides the reader with an insight into the state of the art and a set of propositions that present opportunities for future research.

The paper provides insights into how women in business, organisations and wider society can leverage value from both internal and external formal women-only business networks.

The paper contributes to research showing that the social structure of interactions and context can impact women’s standing in the workplace.

The paper sheds light on the under-studied and under-theorised phenomenon of formal women-only business networks. Beyond the individual member level, the authors suggest that such networks can be of value for organisations and the wider social group of women in management and leadership positions.

Across both the private and public sectors one strategy that has been used to support women in leadership roles and to increase women's participation in leadership positions has been to establish formal female specific networks. This paper examines the efficacy of such a strategy through a case study of one such group – the Australian Local Government Women's Association. Data for the paper are drawn from interviews with the 19 female mayors in the Australian state of Queensland. Participants were divided in their views about the organization. One group expressed support for women's networking, a second group was critical of women organizing in such a way and a third group expressed ambivalence about the value of women's networks. This paper draws on these views to assess the transformative potential of women's networks. It concludes that women‐only networks have a valuable role to play in securing greater equity for women in management.

All entrepreneurs interact simultaneously with multiple entrepreneurial contexts throughout their entrepreneurial journey. This conceptual paper has two central aims: (1) it synthesises the current literature on gender and entrepreneurship, and (2) it increases our understanding of how gender norms, contextual embeddedness and (in)equality mechanisms interact within contexts. Illustrative contexts that are discussed include entrepreneurship education, business networks and finance.

This conceptual paper draws upon extant literature to develop its proposed conceptual framework. It provides suggestions for systemic policy interventions as well as pointing to promising paths for future research.

A literature-generated conceptual framework is developed to explain and address the systemic barriers faced by opportunity-driven women as they engage in entrepreneurial contexts. This conceptual framework visualises the interplay between gender norms, contextual embeddedness and inequality mechanisms to explain systemic disparities. An extra dimension is integrated in the framework to account for the power of agency within women and with others, whereby agency, either individually or collectively, may disrupt and subvert the current interplay with inequality mechanisms.

This work advances understanding of the underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs. The paper offers a conceptual framework that provides policymakers with a useful tool to understand how to intervene and increase contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. Additionally, this paper suggests moving beyond “fixing” women entrepreneurs and points towards disrupting systemic disparities to accomplish this contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. By doing so, this research adds to academic knowledge on the construction and reconstruction of gender in the field of entrepreneurship.

Building on research about entrepreneurship and social capital, the purpose of this paper is to explore how women founders of technology-based ventures in Canada access and use formal external entrepreneurial networks to build their companies.

The study draws on 25 semi-structured interviews with women founders of technology firms and leaders of formal networks.

The authors demonstrate the positive impact of women only networks (WON) for founders including increasing entrepreneurial diversity, access to financing, and founder credibility and sponsorship. The authors show how women founders use mixed gender and WON to build their businesses and conclude that membership in WON can be a vital step.

The sample size is small and most participants reside in highly urban areas, which may limit generalizability. Findings may not generalize beyond Canada due to cultural and structural differences.

The research suggests that external WON should be encouraged as important resources for founder identity work which may enable positive change.

This research can assist in designing initiatives that support women entrepreneurs and promote gender parity.

The authors draw on research in women's leadership development to explain how WONs for entrepreneurs help founders create overlapping strategic networks – a unique form of social capital – and serve as identity workspaces for the identity work women founders must complete. The authors argue that the identity work in WONs can be a mechanism by which gender structures are challenged and eventually changed.

The purpose of this study is to focus specifically on formal and informal networking and their relationship with career satisfaction. It was expected that men would engage more in networking and that men are able to use networking effectively than women, which will be shown in the achievement of greater career satisfaction.

Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical regression analyses, using a sample of 180 (69 percent) female and 80 (31 percent) male employees from a Dutch bank.

Results show that the female respondents engaged more in both formal and informal networking than male respondents. However, hierarchical regression analyses showed that the association between participating in network activities and career satisfaction is significantly stronger for men than for women.

There is certainly a need for longitudinal data to resolve issues concerning differential dropout of women and the development of effective social networks.

The female employees profit less from networking in terms of career satisfaction. One possible solution may be to try to develop especially the networking competences of women.

Elaborating on the social network perspective this study of the participation in formal and informal networks examined gender differences in the association of networking with career satisfaction. Although the female employees in this study engage more in networking, they profit less from it in terms of career satisfaction.

Utilising a biographical methodological research methodology, this paper examines the career development of men and women managers within the retail environment. The findings utilising this research methodology revealed the relative importance of self promotion and other informal policies as opportunities or threats to individuals’ career development. This article explores how such informal processes manifest themselves in the career development of managers and reveals how men are more likely than women, albeit unconsciously, to report such informal processes as helping in their career development. The paper demonstrates how a biographical story telling approach can uncover rich qualitative data that would not otherwise be revealed by adopting a more quantitative methodological approach.

The purpose of this paper is to examine female leaders' attitudes toward demand-side strategies to close the gender-leadership gap and discuss implications for organizations.

This article describes the process of knowledge co-creation that took place using an engaged scholarship epistemology over 23 interviews with North American women in senior leadership roles.

Five key themes related to women leaders' attitudes toward demand-side strategies are discussed. Some felt uncertain or opposed toward these strategies, whereas others supported them. Support for these strategies was dependent on perceptions of backlash regarding the implementation of these strategies and the participants' career stage. Finally, participants acknowledged that demand-side strategies are insufficient in isolation and require additional organizational supports.

These findings enhance our understanding and provide theoretical refinement of the mechanisms that drive female leaders' reactions to demand-side strategies to close the gender-leadership gap.

Participants advocated for certain practices to be considered when organizations contemplate the adoption of demand-side strategies. Importantly, participants advocated that the implementation of demand-side strategies would be insufficient unless organizations encourage greater dialogue regarding the gender-leadership gap, that top management support more gender inclusive leadership, and that male colleagues act as allies for women in leadership.

This article extends past research and theory by integrating the pragmatic perspectives of successful female leaders with previous empirical evidence to illustrate different reactions to demand-side strategies and ways for organizations to manage those in their efforts to close the gender-leadership gap.

The PRCA December 2020 census tells us that, in the United Kingdom, the public relations (PR) industry continues to be predominantly female, with 68% of respondents ticking that box. It also highlights a ‘gender pay gap’ of 21%, an increase of 7% from March 2020 and states that ‘this can be explained by the fact that the respondents … are largely in senior roles which tend to be more male dominated’ (PRCA, 2020), thus demonstrating a leadership gap as well as a pay one. Both of the leading PR professional membership bodies in the United Kingdom – the PRCA and CIPR – acknowledge the gender pay and leadership gaps, made starker in an industry dominated by women, and have committed to tackle the disparity.

In this chapter, I build on Liz Yeomans' (2020) work, in which she suggests ‘new avenues for researching neoliberalism and postfeminism in PR’ (p. 44) to examine the ‘apparently progressive moves’ (Yeomans', 2020) by women's networking organisations. I analyse website texts from two women-only PR networking organisations – Women in PR and Global Women in PR – to explore the ways in which they construct their function, purpose and role, and to examine their position vis-à-vis the contemporary postfeminist media culture (Gill, 2007). The research takes a feminist, discourse analytic approach and sheds light on the reality of women in PR as constructed by organisations whose stated goal is to: ‘improve equality and diversity across the industry by increasing the number and diversity of women in leadership roles’ (Women in PR, 2022).

This paper aims to consider what all‐women networks have, and might offer, in terms of support and development of women in educational leadership.

The study draws on two case studies of such networks in education in England, the first, a regional network for women secondary school principals, and the other national, for women leaders in higher education. Network theories are employed to trace the type, origins, functions and evolution of networks for women in educational leadership. The two case studies, drawing on interviews, observation and documents, are part of a larger research project on the support and development of women leaders at work.

Two networks emerged at the beginning of the 1990s in the context of second wave feminism and the isolation experienced by women in leadership roles. The interview data show how strong the support function has been and continues to be, but despite this, these networks appear to be in terminal decline. Amongst reasons for the decline is the aging profile of the membership accompanied by lack of interest from younger women who may believe that gender issues are no longer relevant. Finally there is less support for the networks from universities and local authorities than was the case in the past. However, the strength of findings about the level of support has practical and social implications for women leaders.

The findings relate to only two case studies in one cultural setting.

The originality of the paper is in the application of network theory to the field of education.

Women make up about half of the overall workforce, but they are still underrepresented in higher pay, leadership and senior-level positions. Literature indicated genders are different in information processing, values, learning styles, behaviors and leadership styles. A customized women-only training program (WOTP) has been implemented cross-disciplinary; yet, the literature has limited discussions on the principle and outcome of WOTP. The purpose of this paper is to explore the purpose, application, challenges, advantages and disadvantages of WOTP.

Social learning theory was applied to investigate the fundamental principle of WOTP.

The implication of WOTP to human resource development (HRD) discipline was discussed, and three propositions were created in this paper.

This paper is expected to contribute to adult education and HRD research and practices on promoting gender equality in the workplace and to provoke dialogue about a training strategy – WOTP.