There have always been these lengthy conversations about how women have to work extra hard, sacrifice a lot more and often battle uncomfortable situations to reach the glass ceiling; let alone break it. Many a times, women don’t have the right type of support systems that they need to grow in a professional space and often crave the guidance of a mentor. So do women make good mentors for other women?
There are those who feel that men make the best mentors, but there are those who feel that women will thrive the best under the tutelage of another woman. Gone are the days when mentoring roles were taken up exclusively by men, but this is yet another domain that is being slowly taken over by women.
The benefits of having women mentors, particularly for women are immense:
- Women tend to think differently as compared to men, which is why there is always the chance of new ideas and in-ways of thinking to emerge.
- When a woman is coaching another woman, the amount of visibility and recognition, within and outside an organization tends to go up.
- Not only can the mentees benefit from the guidance on professional progress, they can also get information on new and important opportunities.
- Perhaps the biggest benefit of having a woman mentoring another woman would be the chance to expand the professional network.
Situations where women don’t have proper mentors are immense; studies have shown that men often don’t consider it worth their while to coach women at the workplace and do not offer them the traditional methods of growth. So, unless women step in, other women might not receive the guidance and support they deserve. From the world of entertainment to education, from business to building your own niche domain, you will see plenty of examples of how women mentors have helped other women.
Some of the top female mentors today were themselves mentored by women. Oprah Winfrey was herself mentored by Maya Angelou and Winfrey has gone on to mentor several other women. Reshma Saujani, who was once the deputy public advocate for the state of New York and went onto become the founder of an organization named Girls Who Code, has on, more than one occasion hailed Hillary Clinton as her mentor, who inspired her, got her in touch with the right people and helped recognize important opportunities. Allie Miller, who is currently the US Head of AI Business Development for Startups and Venture Capital at Amazon, has been chosen to be an ambassador for the propagation of STEM amongst girls, in association with the American Association For The Advancement Of Science or AAAS.
With women mentors, women can have positive role models and this will help create a better work environment and eventually shape improved policies at the workplace.
References:
https://www.ddiworld.com/resources/library/trend-research/women-as-mentors-does-she-or-doesnt-she
https://www.business.com/articles/mentor-relationships-for-women/
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/female-role-models
By Purnima
