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What happens when women mentor men
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/20/success/women-mentoring-men/index.html
We're used to seeing men as mentors. We're used to seeing them mentor other men, and we're also getting used to seeing them mentor junior women. As more women enter positions of leadership, we're also seeing a growing number of senior women mentoring other women.
But there's a mentor-mentee relationship we're not as familiar with: senior women mentoring junior men.
"To be honest, most of the research looks into men being mentors to women and whether this is effective," says Andromachi Athanasopoulou, associate professor in organizational behavior at Queen Mary University of London. "Far less research has looked at the opposite — a woman mentoring a man — because more men are in the leadership positions, so they are more likely to be mentors."
But there's something about these relationships that experts say is different, especially for the man being mentored.
When Lori Taylor, a vice president in the risk division at Goldman Sachs, returned to work after a six-year break to raise her children, she noticed both female and male employees approaching her for advice on balancing work and home responsibilities.
"I have some men who work for me who have long hours and commutes, and I get them to think about 'Do you want to work from home one day a week?'" she says. "We talk a lot about flexibility and the options you can create for yourself."
We're used to seeing men as mentors. We're used to seeing them mentor other men, and we're also getting used to seeing them mentor junior women. As more women enter positions of leadership, we're also seeing a growing number of senior women mentoring other women.
But there's a mentor-mentee relationship we're not as familiar with: senior women mentoring junior men.
"To be honest, most of the research looks into men being mentors to women and whether this is effective," says Andromachi Athanasopoulou, associate professor in organizational behavior at Queen Mary University of London. "Far less research has looked at the opposite — a woman mentoring a man — because more men are in the leadership positions, so they are more likely to be mentors."
But there's something about these relationships that experts say is different, especially for the man being mentored.
When Lori Taylor, a vice president in the risk division at Goldman Sachs, returned to work after a six-year break to raise her children, she noticed both female and male employees approaching her for advice on balancing work and home responsibilities.
"I have some men who work for me who have long hours and commutes, and I get them to think about 'Do you want to work from home one day a week?'" she says. "We talk a lot about flexibility and the options you can create for yourself."
There's a Poppy Harlow video at the link.
Personally my mentor and mentee are both women. That's just who has stuck with me and committed to having regular discussions about our career progression in a field that doesn't have enough women or minorities yet.
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