Mentoring in Women's Communities Mentoring in Women's Communities
What research says about mentoring programs run by and for women.
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
Women in management today
Women hold 30% of management roles
At the current pace, parity in management would take nearly 100 years.
Two kinds of ties
Women often build two networks
In one firm, women found support among women and access through ties to men.
- Support and friendship mostly from women
- Access to resources mostly through men
From advice to access
Add sponsors who open doors
Men drew more network returns from similar resources, so plan for access too.
- Mentor advice and support
- Sponsor puts her name forward
- Wider network access across the field
Same-gender role models
Show women who made it
Outstanding women inspired women more than outstanding men did; men were not affected.
Peer mentors at transitions
Pair newcomers with women peer mentors
Female peer mentors protected women's belonging, confidence and retention in engineering.
Belonging over grades
Track belonging, not only results
Belonging and self-efficacy went with staying in the field; first-year grades did not.
- Belonging
- Self-efficacy
- Staying in the field
Women-only leadership groups
Teach leadership through women's experience
Becoming a leader is identity work, and subtle bias gets in its way.
- Negotiation
- Leading change
- 360-degree feedback
- Networking
Formal and informal mentors
Make formal matches feel chosen
Protégés of informal mentors earned more; formally mentored ones matched the unmentored.
- No mentor the baseline
- Formal mentor no significant difference
- Informal mentor higher pay, rated more effective
A design checklist
Five choices for your program
These choices follow from the studies in this deck; they are design advice.
- Women role models in every cohort
- A sponsor or senior ally for each mentee
- Peer circles at career transitions
- A belonging question in every survey
- Mentees choose from a shortlist
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2025) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025: Goal 5, Gender equality United Nations Statistics Division, New York
- Ibarra, H. (1992) Homophily and differential returns: Sex differences in network structure and access in an advertising firm Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(3), 422-447
- Lockwood, P. (2006) "Someone like me can be successful": Do college students need same-gender role models? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30(1), 36-46
- Dennehy, T. C. & Dasgupta, N. (2017) Female peer mentors early in college increase women's positive academic experiences and retention in engineering Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(23), 5964-5969
- Ely, R. J., Ibarra, H. & Kolb, D. M. (2011) Taking gender into account: Theory and design for women's leadership development programs Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 474-493
- Ragins, B. R. & Cotton, J. L. (1999) Mentor functions and outcomes: A comparison of men and women in formal and informal mentoring relationships Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(4), 529-550
Build access, not only support
Give each woman a role model, a peer and someone who opens doors.