Many organizations are focused on increasing the number of women in top leadership positions, and it’s easy to see why: companies with a higher percentage of women in executive and board positions tend to perform better.
Smart companies are turning to mentoring programs to help increase gender diversity in leadership. Mentoring helps women get to leadership positions in a number of ways: mentoring can help women gain more confidence (particularly early in their career), it can help women learn the unspoken norms of the organization, and it can challenge stereotypes and biases of those in charge.
However, organizations that start a mentoring program with the aims of increasing gender diversity have a difficult decision to make: should the mentoring program be women-only? As with any complex decision, there are tradeoffs. Organizations should consider the pro’s and con’s to women-only mentoring programs.
Pro: A women-only mentoring program can provide role models for early career women.
Virtually everybody benefits from seeing people like themselves in leadership positions.
An early career woman may not be able to see herself in executive roles dominated by men: she may internalize the persistent gender stereotypes that one must be masculine in order to hold a leadership role. For women, it can be important to see women in executive roles so that they can envision themselves in those roles.
Women mentees can also talk with women mentors about challenges that are specific to them, such as dealing with discrimination in the workplace. Women executives are uniquely positioned to offer advice on such topics.
Con: Some organizations may not have enough women in leadership positions to support an effective mentoring program.
While women mentoring women may sound like a good idea in theory, many organizations run into the practical and logistical issue of not having enough women in executive roles for the concept to become a reality.
For example, a recent report from 2020 Women on Boards found that 311 of the 3000 biggest publicly traded companies (over 10%) had no women at all on the board, and approximately one-third only had one woman.
And, a 2012 study found that 138 of the Fortune 500 companies had no women on their executive team. If potential women mentees at these organizations wait for a female role model to appear before finding a mentor, they will likely be waiting a long time.
Pro: By starting a mentoring program for women only, a company can focus resources where they are most needed.
As any employee training and development professional knows, there are limited resources for developing staff.
Wise organizations focus these dollars and attention on projects with the biggest potential payoff. If an organization wants to increase the percentage of women leaders, it makes sense to focus development resources on women.
Also read: Tips for Mentoring Women
Con: A mentoring program specifically for women can position women as lacking relative to their male peers.
A mentoring program specifically for women can fail to address the issues that seem to necessitate a women-only mentoring plan in the first place.
Rather than specifically address systemic discrimination, they can perpetuate the belief that women are weaker or more problematic than their male peers, who need no such special intervention. When programs focus only on women, they can be overly focused on helping women adapt to the male-dominated environment, and in doing so “may actually serve to marginalize women further and reinforce the invisibly masculine discourses that sustain current practices,” says researcher Katherine Dashper.
Pro: In the #metoo era, women make more appropriate mentors for women because men may be hesitant to mentor women.
Women tend to get shut out of mentoring when it is informal. Men may unconsciously look for individuals to mentor who remind them of their former selves, which tends to exclude women.
Further, in a highly publicized 2019 study by Leanin.org, 60% of male managers say they are uncomfortable mentoring or participating in other one-on-one work activities with women. To avoid any appearance of impropriety, organizations can choose to formalize only same-sex mentoring pairs.
Con: All-women mentoring programs can create the appearance that women receive preferential treatment, sparking a backlash.
When companies offer programs that benefit one particular demographic group, it can seem like preferential treatment for individuals when others are shut out or not offered a similar program.
Critics can point out that two wrongs don’t make a right: even if men might have several advantages over women (access to informal mentoring, for example), instituting a formal mentoring program for women only still is singling out people based on their gender, and doesn’t “even out.” Regardless of whether these criticisms are justified or not, they can set back diversity and inclusion efforts within an organization.
While on the surface, it might seem like a good idea for companies to focus mentoring programs strictly on women. After all, it’s a targeted use of resources, it can provide role models for and boost the confidence of women professionals, and same-sex mentoring pairs can avoid the appearance of impropriety.
However, the downsides can be significant: there may not be enough women in leadership positions to support same-sex mentoring pairs, and women-only mentoring programs can foster a sense that women are receiving preferential treatment or that they are deficient in some way relative to their male peers. Organizations should think twice before committing to a women-only mentoring program.
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