Out with the old course, in with EDI-T
Today, heading to the course for a round of golf is still used frequently as a tool for networking. And don’t get me wrong, it can be effective, but it’s a far drive from being accessible.
At EDI-T we are taking a swing at the male dominated activity that has been used for decades to close business deals, schmooze clients and potential investors.
A research report, first published in 2020 but has resurfaced for fresh debate stated that women who don't golf are losing out on networking opportunities that could advance their careers.
According to a Californian golfing website those who are able to participate in the sport have particular similarities:
Golfers are typically high earners with an average household income of $100,950. The US Census Bureau reported the average household income in 2017 was $61,372
14% of golfers have a net worth over $1 million dollars
90% of Fortune 500 CEOs are golfers. And 85% of Fortune 500 CEOs are men
Not only is it not a particularly diverse hobby, golf is pretty inaccessible when you drive up the cost of club membership, lessons, kit, clubs and time, it’s not something that most people, especially women, would adopt as a sporting pastime.
Further in the report it cites a study that pointed to the fact that golf is actually rarely challenged as a powerful tool for networking and there’s a good amount of truth to that.
If you google networking and golf or a variation of that, many of the top searches still praise the pastime for conducting business.
These were some of the top headlines that came up:
Golf: A drive to create successful business networks
Golf: Perfect networking sport
Why More Female Executives Don’t Play Golf—and Why That’s a Problem.
Secondly, the study highlighted that golf is the number one informal networking tool that they feel excluded from.
Women don’t have the time to spare
For many working people today, time is precious and more often than not, our diaries are filled up each week with expected and unexpected tasks and we ask ourselves, where do we find the time?
This is especially true for women who, working or not working, have more on their plate. A study from the Pew Research Center earlier this year shone a spotlight on the amount of additional work women do - even among women who out-earn their male partners.
Almost half of women in opposite-sex marriages earn as much as or more than their husbands, a share that's tripled since the early 1970s. In the US, 29% of marriages today have both spouses earning about the same amount of money. However, the distribution of unpaid labour is still unbalanced. In these marriages women spend roughly 2 hours more per week on caregiving than their husbands and about 2.5 hours more on housework. Whereas the husbands spend around 3.5 hours more per week on leisure activities, such as golf, than their spouse.
On average, completing a full 18-hole course can take four to five hours and that’s not including the time in between taken to travel, networking over lunch or a pint, and discuss business.
The generational divide
We have to also consider that golf has passed its generation peak with boomers and generation X being the main drivers of this sport for networking.
A rapidly digital world and younger workforce brings with it new priorities. For millennials and generation Z there are a number of reasons why golf is not their chosen networking activity and of course there are more barriers facing millennial and generation Z women.
Time and money being the biggest obstacle. Millennials are currently higher spenders than generation Z and unsurprisingly lower spenders than generation X. Being the generation that was hit the hardest by the recession, millennials are more willing to spend money on essential things for work but look at purchases through a purpose and value lens.
In the UK, the cost of joining a club ranges between £500 and £2,000 a year. Even if you don’t join a club, you still have to take into consideration the cost of golf lessons, appropriate attire, club purchases or hires, food and drink and of course the fee to play on the course.
That’s not to say that companies shouldn’t organise a golf day during the year for their team if that’s what their staff enjoy and would support their wellbeing. This type of activity and many others are great for relationship building amongst teams but it’s simply not a logistical and affordable networking tool for the younger generations.
EDI-T: Your community, anytime, anywhere
Bringing a global community of education professionals together in one virtual platform, EDI-T eliminates the worry about time, costs and logistics.
Members can visit the platform, join our sessions live but also watch it on demand if it clashes with their diary and connect with other members when it’s convenient.
We understand that today, women and those underrepresented across the international education sector, need better flexibility and equity in order to advance their career or reach leadership positions. Because there are so many ways to network accessibly, there is no need to tee up for a round of business.
Networking should be inclusive and accessible to all as much as possible and at EDI-T we can offer that whenever it suits you.
