Question:

Mentoring and networking are fundamental factors in career opportunity and progression. Evaluate how a lack of mentoring and networking may affect women in the labor market

Answer:

Contents

Introduction. 2

Networking. 2

Mentoring. 7

Conclusion. 11

References. 13

 

Introduction

Mentoring and networking are fundamental factors influencing career opportunity and progression. Women who are  exposed to mentoring and networking get numerous opportunities in the labor market. Moreover, they find it easier to progress in their careers. However, whereas some network mechanisms are beneficial to women, others reinforce gender inequalities (Ibarra, 1992). These inequalities are reinforced by virtue of influencing the way power is distributed. For example, when women are encouraged to restrict themselves to same-sex network relationships, they may be prevented from exploiting fully their positional resources as well as converting them into network advantages.

Numerous researches show that many women are continually being excluded from or accorded limited opportunities for mentoring and networking (Gilbert,1992). It is imperative for the mechanisms that produce these disadvantages to be identified. It is also important for the differences in the way men and women form networks at the workplace to be explored. This paper contributes to this debate by evaluating how a lack of mentoring and networking may affect women in the labor market. The thesis of this article is that the continued lack of mentoring and networking affects women in the labor market by giving them access to fewer rewards than men. This makes it difficult for them to succeed in career progression thereby threatening their survival in the labor market.

Networking

In most workplaces, men are more likely to build strong, multiple networks across the organization (Ibarra, 1992). As for women, this ability is limited; most of their friendship and social support comes from other women. In most cases, women form network with men primarily for instrumental access (Ibarra, 1992). Although the centrality of the organization remains unaffected, men appear to derive more benefits once networks have been firmly instituted. For this reason, women are condemned to a disadvantaged position that threatens their survival in the labor market.

To understand how women are affected in the labor market by a lack networking and mentoring opportunities, it is imperative to first understand the differences between the opportunities available to women and those available to men (Ibarra, 1993). It is similarly important for the mechanisms that yield these differences to be highlighted.

In the contemporary labor market, interactions networks tend to be designed in such a way that unique constraints that affect women are produced. This makes women’s networks much weaker than those of men in terms of access to career rewards and opportunities. This weakness tends to be institutionalized, meaning that the organizational context contributes greatly to the disadvantages faced by women. In this situation, women are left with structurally limited alternatives from which to make strategic choices (Ibaara, 1993).

Moreover, the structures that weaken the position of women tend to be reinforced through informal mechanisms (McGuire, 2000). Such mechanisms are extremely difficult to address through formal organizational frameworks. According to McGuire (2000), women and racial minorities tend to have network members whose status is lower than that of men because the positions they occupy make it extremely difficult for them to attract the most powerful employees within the organization.  McGuire (2000) agrees with Ibaara (1993) that structural exclusion as opposed to personal exclusion best explains sex differences as far as the status of the female network members is concerned. This structural exclusion is a manifestation of the weak position that women hold in the labor market.

The nature of mentoring and networking opportunities available for women in the organization are also a major indicator of gender inequalities. McGuire (2002) highlights a situation where women continue to receive less work-related assistance from the members of their network even when they have control over organizational resources and have close ties to very powerful employees. This indicates a trend in which network members are not willing to invest heavily in women. This is primarily because of the cultural beliefs that put women below men in the authority hierarchy.

This is a sad situation given the numerous benefits to be derived from mentoring. Mentoring benefit the protégé, the mentor, and the organization. Both formal and informal mentoring entails the creation of a relationship between peer to peer, subordinate to superior, or supervisor to subordinate. Organizations use mentoring as a way of employees’ professional development as well as increasing their sense of loyalty.

According to Washington (2011), mentoring is a powerful resource that provides protégés with both personal and professional development. This explains why the development of mentorship programs is a priority area among organizations. However, as these programs become increasingly popular, women, just like less skilled employees and racial minorities, continue to face hurdles that reduce their ability to derive the greatest benefits from mentoring programs. In most organizations, mentoring is promoted as a career development tool. Therefore, lack of adequate access to this crucial tool means that women are put at a disadvantaged position as far as career development and progression is concerned.

Moreover, McGuire (2002) reports that many employers use gender as a basis for ranking workers as well as distributing rewards unequally. Similarly, employees use gender as a factor in categorizing and ranking all their network members. This may be an indication that organization-level gender-related practices are trickling down to influence employee-level decisions regarding how to rank the members of their networks. Through such a trend, the position of women in networks becomes institutionalized. Women are forced to take lower-level positions in their respective networks. Within such positions, their bargaining power is greatly reduced. This tends to have a negative influence on their position within the labor market.

When women are weakened as far as their positions in various networks are concerned, they lack confidence in their ability to play the role of mentors. In other words, their mentoring relationships are negatively affected as well. According to Ragins & McFarlin (1990), this can be established through an in-depth monitoring of cross-gender mentoring relationships. Perceptions of mentor roles in both same-gender and cross-gender gender mentoring relationships are a major indicator of the lower status that women are assigned, thereby demoralizing them.

This aspect of demoralization tends to be present even after factors such as organization level and prior experience with mentoring relationships are put into consideration. However, perceived gender roles tend not to be influenced by the gender of the protégé or mentor. This explains why significant gender interactions take place regardless of the gender of the mentor or protégé. In most cases, these interactions focus on social roles and role modeling (Ragins & McFarlin, 1990). Nevertheless, in most organizations, cross-gender protégées are likely to engage in social activities in after-work contexts with their mentors.

The unique position of women as far as mentoring relationships are concerned is best understood by observing the nature of interactions between female mentors and female protégées. In these interactions, the participants are more likely to agree that the mentor is serving a function of role modeling.

Although mentoring can bring about many career-related benefits, the playground is rarely leveled for women (Washington, 2011). Many career women have to face numerous barriers in their quest for mentoring opportunities. These barriers affect women in both mid-level and entry-level positions, regardless of whether they have been informally or formally mentored (Washington, 2011).

Some of the career barriers that women face include exclusion from many informal networks, absence of cultural fit, poor processes of organizational management, lack of mentoring, difficulties in obtaining mobility-related opportunities, and lack of opportunities relating to developmental assignments (Washington, 2011). According to Washington (2011), women who are informally mentored face greater barriers relating to lack of mentoring than those who are formally mentored. This indicates the need for social change to facilitate the introduction of more formal mentoring programs targeting female employees. Such opportunities enable women to overcome the numerous challenges that come their way in their quest for career advancement.

In other instances, research focuses on the differences between the networking behaviors of men and their women. The aim is normally to determine whether these behaviors can be used to explain differences between the career outcomes of men and those of women.  Some of these outcomes include total compensation, number of promotions, and perceived career success. Sometimes concerns are raised on whether networking behavior benefits women in the same way it does men. All these questions are normally asked in efforts to determine why women seem not to match the achievements of men as far as career progression is concerned.

Mentoring

Women seem to face more challenges than men as far as the search for mentoring opportunities at the workplace is concerned. According to Blake-Beard (2001), one of the reasons why women’s careers lag behind those of men is lack of access to proper formal mentoring programs (Blake-Beard, 2001). Most women, when entering organizations, will have in most cases managed to achieve virtual parity with their male counterparts. However, within a few years, their careers start lagging behind those of men. One of the main causes of this lag is the glass ceiling (Blake-Beard, 2001). Mentoring is regarded as one of the tools that women can use to break through this ceiling.

It is imperative for empirical research to highlight the differences between formal and informal mentoring as far as their effectiveness is concerned. This would enable women to determine which form of mentoring best suits their immediate and long-term needs as far as career development and progression is concerned. Formal mentoring programs are normally based on planned relationships. In the case of informal mentoring programs, the relationships tend to be unplanned.

Regardless of the form of mentoring used, it seems there are no major disagreements regarding the benefits to be derived. Indeed, many organizations that seek to introduce mentoring programs hope to derive most of these benefits, including increased productivity, reduced turnover intentions, easier socialization, and career satisfaction. Other than the achievement of these positive organizational outcomes, the organizations seek to correct the inequalities faced by women at the workplace. They do this in the hope that benefits such as promotions and salary increases will enable women catch up with men as far as career progression is concerned.

Informal mentoring programs are in most cases spontaneously-derived. This is unlike formal mentoring programs, which are normally sanctioned by the employer. Moreover, informal mentoring programs are characterized by voluntary assignment where mentors are matched with protégés. Additionally, formal mentoring programs tend to be shorter than informal mentoring programs in terms of duration.

In terms of the processes, most research focus is on informal mentoring. Blake-Beard (2001) identifies four phases that start with initiation. The initiation phase involves matching the mentor and the protégé. The other phases include cultivation, separation and finally redefinition (Blake-Beard, 2001). In formal mentoring relationships, initiation is externally directed. The external influence normally comes from the program coordinator. In contrast, informal mentoring relationships thrive on the basic principle of attraction of two people to each other on the basis of perceived similarity.

It seems formal mentoring programs are failing to boost the careers of most women because of the inability by coordinators to identify correctly a match between the mentor and the protégé. As Ragins & McFarlin (1990) point out, most organizations continue to ignore the guidance provided by empirical research in the development and implementation of formal mentoring programs. These shortcomings on the part of the organization expose women to numerous mentoring-related challenges.

Some of the challenges that women face include unrealistic expectations, difficulty in managing developmental dilemmas in their careers, lack of opportunity for identification, and difficulties in establishing post-program relationships (Ragins & McFarlin, 1990). These challenges tend to have far-reaching implications on the position of women in the labor force. In most instances, they reduce women’s ability to compete with men in the rush for the few available career opportunities.

When one is introduced in a formal mentoring program, there is always a sense of unrealistic anticipation. This anticipation arises because the person being mentored overrates the mentoring relationship. Sometimes, the unrealistic expectations lead the individual to anticipate great outcomes that the mentor is not in a position to provide. According to Ragins & McFarlin (1990), these expectations sometimes arise because employees assume that the outcomes of formal mentoring are similar to those of informal mentoring. Research evidence shows that this is not the case (Ragins & McFarlin, 1990).

To avoid unrealistic expectations, it is always important for mentors and protégés to clearly outline the ground rules as well as clarify expectations at the beginning of the program. Moreover, women need to discuss the goals that they seek to achieve during the relationship. They should particularly focus on those goals that are not immediately explicit. Some of the goals that women pursue in their careers may naturally differ from those preferred by men. Women should never shy away from indicating their preferences, even when these preferences are different from those of their male colleagues. Through this discussion, anger and disappointment at the end of the program is avoided.

Women who lack mentoring lack a crucial foundation for identification in their careers. Identification in a career is important because it creates opportunities for development and progression. Yet many women opt out of formal mentoring programs for lack of natural attraction to mentors. For such women, this natural attraction is easily established through informal mentoring relationships. Unfortunately, the organizations that they work for may not readily recognize these informal relationships. This means that women who have been properly mentored, albeit informally, miss out on career progression opportunities.

Women without exposure to appropriate aspects of mentoring, women become vulnerable to various challenges that affect them at the workplace. This is because they lack mentors from whom they can obtain crucial information on how to deal with issues such as sexual harassment, identification of dimensions of diversity, mutual sharing of goals and expectations, and setting of clear boundaries for workplace interactions.

As women continue making their mark by pursuing careers in professions that have traditionally been male-dominated such as law and science, they face new challenges. The persistence of these challenges has created a situation where women are finding it very difficult to advance within the new-found workplace. For instance, in the field of business management, lack of mentoring creates a situation where opportunities for promotion for women are few and far between (Hansman, 1998).

In most organizations where traditional careers are promoted, the boards of directors tend to be mainly comprised of male members (Ragins, 1994). Such a board of directors tends to appoint people who look like them for top positions such as chief executive officer, general manager, vice-president, and chief financial officer. This explains how the first priority in leadership roles ends up being presented to men in most organizations.

In professions that are new to women, it is difficult to find appropriate mentors, particularly in informal settings. Women find it difficult to find successful female professionals who can be a source of valuable guidance and advice. On the contrary, male professionals are able to identify mentors in their fields of expertise with ease. This gives them an upper hand in the quest for career advancement because they get crucial advice on the challenges to be encountered and ways of dealing with them.

It is evident that although women continue to make progress in the workplace, they continue to be far behind men. The organizational culture of most organization provides mentoring opportunities that favor men. Most of the models that organizational leaders identify are those who have succeeded in the traditional careers. In such a situation, women are affected by the glass ceiling. They face barriers in their attempt to occupy senior positions as well as earn higher salaries. This glass ceiling is particularly common in corporations, educational institutions, government, and nonprofit organizations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, women need networking and mentoring relationships to succeed in the contemporary workplace. Without proper access to these opportunities, their position in the labor force is threatened. These relationships are particularly critical for women who want to advance and develop their careers in organizations. In situations where women choose to pursue careers that have traditionally been dominated by men, the problem of the glass ceiling makes it extremely difficult for them to find appropriate mentors.

In the traditional practice, there is a tendency to establish differences between the opportunities available to men and those that are available to women. This has for a long time been influencing the nature of networking relationships that women enter into at the workplace. Although many organizations explicitly state that they have put anti-discrimination policies in place, the informal networking mechanisms in place tend to weaken the position of women. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to address these shortcomings through formal networking.

 

References

Blake-Beard, S. (2001). Taking a hard look at formal mentoring programs: A consideration of potential challenges facing women.  Journal of Management Development, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 331 – 345.

Gilbert, L. (1992). Gender and the mentoring process for women: Implications for professional development. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 233-238.

Hansman, C. (1998). Mentoring and Women’s Career Development. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Vol. 80, No. 3, pp. 63–71.

Ibarra, H. (1992). Homophily and differential returns: Sex differences in network structure and access in an advertising firm. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 422-447.

Ibarra, H. (1993). Personal networks of women and minorities in management: A conceptual framework, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp.56-87.

McGuire, G. (2000). Gender, race, ethnicity and networks: The factors affecting the status of employees’ network members. Work and Occupations, Vol. 27, No. 7, pp. 500-523.

McGuire, G. (2002) Gender, Race and the Shadow Structure: A study of informal networks and inequality in a work organization. Gender and Society, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 303-322.

Ragins, B. & McFarlin, D. (1990). Perceptions of mentor roles in cross-gender mentoring relationships. Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp.321-339.

Ragins, B. (1994). Gender Differences in Expected Outcomes of Mentoring Relationships. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 957-971.

Washington, C. (2011). Mentoring, Organizational Rank, and Women’s Perceptions of Advancement Opportunities in the Workplace. International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2, No. 9, pp. 162-178.