Social intelligence is a great place for women to work. Here's why.

Social intelligence is fast-paced and under appreciated. It can take months, years even, to get social data taken seriously in a business. But it’s a great place to work. We spoke to women across the industry to find out why.

Beverley Forrester, Associate Director, Social Media Solutions, Novartis

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'There are amazing women in social intelligence who bring a point-of-view, leadership, experience and a high level of skills to social intelligence. Women in our industry are leading social intelligence departments or innovating in this space at multinational corporations as well as boutique consulting firms, agencies, government, NGOs, and in academia. Social intelligence will remain a fun and dynamic industry as long as social media and digital platforms continue to be places for people to connect.'

Priscila Silva, Coding Manager, Listen and Learn Research

'It allows us to express our creativity and it gives a voice to women. It helps us spot inequality problems in the marketing business and help brands learn how to improve their business in a way that is fairer and more ethical.'

Angela Berger, Director, Insights & Analytics, Walmart

'The industry is ever evolving, so the opportunities to learn, grow and bring new perspectives to the table are limitless.'

Jackie Cuyvers, CEO, Convosphere

'The social insights industry is a great place to be for women in that at its heart - it's understanding human behaviour through their online conversations. Women naturally are communicators and paired with research skills and business acumen it's a great career path where women can be very successful. This is shown in the numbers, my company is woman-led and more than 60% of my team are women. The industry is very collaborative, sharing innovations in insights - as the more good work we all do and show what good looks like, the more work and opportunity for all of us.'

Vic Miller, VP Global Comms, Brandwatch

'The wonderful and smart people you get to work with and meet. I came into this industry from a very different one and found it welcoming and just a great mix of people. There is a brilliant network of women, but also incredibly supportive men.'

Saman Bhatti, Head of Growth and Operations Manager, Audiense

'Although we may be behind on the thought leader front. The pace of the industry is unparalleled by any other along with the lack of red tape. It's a fresh industry where you can make your mark and evolve on your own terms.'z

Tirtha Medappa, Senior Research Executive, Ipsos MORI

'Social intelligence is reshaping the way in which organisations connect with and understand their customers. It is constantly evolving, driven forward by tech innovation, and the best part is that we're only just getting started. Those in social intelligence come from a variety of backgrounds, from tech companies to traditional market research agencies, which means that there isn't a blueprint for a successful social intelligence analyst or any preconceived notions about what they look like. For those who are curious about people and their behaviour, and have a keen interest in digital research, there is a real opportunity to become both a role model for future social intelligence analysts and an architect of what that future looks like.'

Karen Deslattes Winslow, Research Manager, Listen + Learn Research 

'There is a saying “what is whispered in the closet shall be proclaimed from the housetops for all to hear!”  The stereotype based on some degree of truth is women are great listeners and communicators.  We are also more likely to detect insincerity or when something is misleading.  We are very capable of reading between the lines and can glean more than anybody from a “meh” response to “how was school today?” Women have inherent strengths to collect, analyse and glean relevant insights from any type of data.'

Jocelyn Pierce, Social Media Analyst, United States Postal Service

‘By nature, women are good listeners, communications, problem solvers, and multi-taskers—all of which are skills that will help you excel in the Social Business Intelligence field.’

Kaylin Linke, Head of Solutions Architecture, Socialgist 

'One of the best parts about working in the social intelligence space has been the wide variety of roles and areas I have been able to explore. Do you want to engineer software? Design engaging UI? Hone your voice as a brand representative? Conduct anthropological studies of meme culture? Help craft social strategies? Get into the nitty gritty details of data harvesting? Train a ML model how to interpret sarcasm? There are countless careers that weave in and around social intelligence. And it is a discipline that is constantly evolving.'

Paz Segura, Marketing Manager, Audiense

'There's a whole space growing around social intelligence and digital research. We are building it and we are doing so in the way we see fit. Since this industry is quite new and more women playing leading roles, I think this will lead to an equal playing field and an overall women-friendly industry.'