“It’s Just so Superficial and Really Puts me off Personally” – Views and Perceptions of Networking Among Women Working in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in England

This paper analyses women’s views and perceptions of networking and the changes in networking practice since the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on a largely unexplored area of women in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), using a case study from the Leeds City Region, England, UK. An online questionnaire was disseminated to 65 participants (51 women and 14 men), and interviews with 14 women working in SMEs were conducted. A three-tier thematic analysis was used to analyze each dataset individually, and then a joint thematic analysis was conducted. The findings show that networking is mainly assessed negatively and as something that affects work-life balance, causes communication issues, and is largely difficult and not particularly useful. In the post-pandemic era, a lot of networking is done online, with the rise of the LinkedIn network, mentioned in a positive context, raising the question of whether LinkedIn networking could solve issues with harassment and work-life balance.