Mentoring and coping self-efficacy as predictors of affective occupational commitment for women in STEM

Abstract

PurposeDespite an evident increase in the number of women joining Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors at universities, the recruitment and retainment of women in STEM occupations continue to be a substantial challenge. The aim of this research is to investigate several individual and contextual factors that could increase the representation of women in STEM fields.Design/methodology/approachThe authors report the results of a questionnaire survey of women (n = 375) working in STEM industries in the Middle East and North Africa region who have or had a mentor during their careers. Structural equation modelling is used to examine the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that both mentoring and coping self-efficacy positively influence affective occupational commitment. Coping self-efficacy is also found to partially mediate the relationship between mentoring and affective occupational commitment.Practical implicationsThe authors recommend that researchers and practitioners give more attention to the contextual factors such as mentoring and its contribution to the coping self-efficacy and affective occupational commitment of employees in STEM occupations.Originality/valueIn this study, the authors investigate individual and contextual factors that have potential to enhance women's occupational commitment in STEM industries based on the Career Self-Management Model.

The influence of protean attitude for women in STEM careers: coping-self efficacy as foundational and strong career identity as outcome

“…In 2015, empowering women and girls became one of the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Common explanations for the under-representation of women in both the Western and Arab worlds include a "chilly climate" where women are faced with explicit and subtle forms of discrimination (Walton et al, 2015), lack of mentorship, and insufficient support and networking (Blaique et al, 2022a(Blaique et al, , 2022b(Blaique et al, , 2022c. Moreover, women in the ME face additional barriers.…”

“…Normative gender role expectations regarding women’s careers, especially within Arabic cultures, also influence in various ways women’s individual beliefs (Metcalfe, 2008). Consequently, when compared with men, women may demonstrate lower self-confidence in pursuing and studying STEM subjects, weaker career self-efficacies and less career motivation to choose and persist with a STEM career (Buse et al , 2013; Blaique et al , 2022c). Such challenging career conditions can also negatively affect women’s career identities.…”

Assessing subjective career success: the role of career commitment, career resilience and self-efficacy: a evidence from hospitality industry

“…In contrast, high SE is vital for enhancing performance and growth, particularly in understanding CC. Workers with high SE are more motivated to achieve selfactualisation and are willing to learn (Blaique et al, 2022;Schultheiss et al, 2023). Career-related SE significantly impacts career goals, learning, accomplishment and one's workplace effectiveness (Abele and Spurk, 2009;Al-mehsin, 2017).…”

“…Those with high SE not only exert greater effort but also actively seek professional strategies to attain their career objectives, aligning with the tenets of CSDT (C. P. Chen, 2017). People with high-SE work harder and seek professional strategies to achieve their job objectives (Blaique et al , 2022). This intrinsic motivation and proactive approach to career development, emphasised by CCT, leads individuals to engage in behaviours conducive to reaching their intended career goals (Abele and Spurk, 2009; Djourova et al , 2020; Hamzah et al , 2022).…”

The influence of personal skills development and coping self-efficacy on the affective occupational commitment of women in STEM fields

“…SE has also been found to influence career development and commitment among women in STEM occupations and majors (Blaique et al. , 2022a, b; Blaique and Pinnington, 2022; Inda et al. , 2013).…”