In business, there’s a saying: "It’s about who you know, not what you know." And while that’s obviously an oversimplification, there’s truth to it. There’s a long history of leveraging personal connections for professional gain, and “networking” has become a crucial activity in promoting yourself professionally. However, this exercise looks wildly different for men and women and has been the cause of strife and resentment in the workplace. Why is that? According to a recent study, men and women build their networks differently. Women, it seems, don’t have the same access to power channels men do, and they are often hesitant to ask for help from their network because they don’t want to be seen as exploitative. Mentorship also looks different, generally speaking, between men and women. Women usually seek to find a mentor they can be friends with rather than someone they can learn from. Men, on the other hand, view these relationships as alliances. Men are more willing to do business with someone they don’t like as long as it helps them achieve their ultimate goal. Women are hesitant to form these kinds of relationships because they tend to prioritize the moral aspects of networking. “I think men are socialized from the get-go to understand that mixing business and friendship is what you do” to get ahead, says Rachel Thomas, president of LeanIn.org. “We, as women, aren’t as comfortable doing that.”