Mentoring for enhancing females' career development: the bank job

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse how formal mentoring programmes may enhance female mentees' career development, particularly in a case study of a major high street bank.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical case study work, from mentees' and mentors' points of view, on the evaluation of a pilot formal mentoring programme for the career development of females is discussed. The two stage evaluation encompasses gender issues such as the impact of gender imbalance and the nature of ambition, together with mentoring issues such as expectations and development of the programme.FindingsOverall, it is found that the mentoring programme is considered, in different ways to mentees and mentors, to be highly successful. Further, it can offer benefits to mentors too. Although females' self‐perceptions, gendered values and perceptions of management and leadership can often impede the career development of females, effective, formal mentoring can be seen to offset such impediments.Practical implicationsThe main inference is that effective formal mentoring can actively bolster females' management career development. The case evaluation exposes a series of good practice points in formal mentoring programmes. Capitalising on these points, organisations can enable females' development in management roles.Originality/valueThe paper acts to support greater gender equity in females' career development in management in the UK finance sector, conceptually and practically.

25 Years On: Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future in Gender and Management Research

“…As such, this body of work is equally important today and researchers (e.g. Billing, 2011;Cabrera, 2009;Corby and Stanworth, 2009;Maxwell, 2009;Priola and Brannen, 2009;Vanderbroeck, 2010;Vinkenburg et al, 2011) continue to be intrigued by women's accounts of their gendered experiences in management and the processes which both facilitate and limit their career opportunities.…”

A study on work-life balance, mentoring support, and networking towards women s career advancement in Malaysia

“…This finding matches the findings of the previous study by Wanberg et al (2003) where mentoring support significantly affect the career advancement of female employees. In addition, a study by Maxwell (2009) also agrees that mentoring support can enhance women's opportunities in career advancement to managerial level.…”

“…Ramaswami and Dreher (2007) noted that mentoring may enrich the mentor's performance because the mentee may offer assistance to their mentor by providing feedback and providing important information, indicating a social exchange relationship between the mentor and mentee. Furthermore, a research by Maxwell (2009) proved that mentoring programs can improve female mentees' career advancement meanwhile contribute to enhancing the gender balance in the organization. The researcher also notes that mentoring can enhance women's opportunities for career advancement to managerial level.…”

“…Mentoring is a relationship between a mentee and a mentor (Donaldson et al, 2000). Mentoring programs can enhance female mentees' career development by contributing to improving gender balance at the management level (Maxwell, 2009). Further, networking is also a factor affects women's career advancement.…”

Reality checks for career women: An interpretevist paradigm

“…Within policing, there are no statistics to gauge whether mentoring has increased women's success in gaining promotion. Unlike men who use a descriptive approach, women are inclined to structure their mentoring sessions and follow a prescriptive approach (Maxwell 2009). The respondents strongly advocated mentoring as being important for the lower level positions rather than for the more senior positions.…”