Mentoring in the experiences of Polish female managers

Abstract

Mentoring, which is increasingly used in the development of professional competences, is rarely analysed in terms of managerial roles and gender. Simultaneously, women in managerial roles increasingly reveal high levels of effectiveness in the business environment. The aim of this article is to diagnose the range and diversity of mentoring experienced by Polish female managers, including two types of mentoring: career and psychosocial. The research involved 370 women who hold managerial positions in organisations located in Poland and who have experience of participating in a mentoring relationship. A quantitative method was used using the Global Measurement of Mentoring Practices questionnaire and the CAWI technique. Student’s t-tests and one-way ANOVA preceded by Levene’s tests of variance were conducted. It has been demonstrated that the career paths of the surveyed female managers were significantly supported by the activities of the mentor. The extent of psychosocial support was found to be greater than of professional support. In terms of psychosocial mentoring, top-level female managers received the greatest extent of support, and in terms of career mentoring, those whose relationship with a mentor was both formal and informal and varied by the gender of the mentor. The findings presented here may be useful in improving mentoring programmes targeted at female managers.