Levelling The Playing Field: Reducing Barriers To Mentoring For Women Protégés In The South African Organisational Context

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impediments to effective mentoring faced by women protégés at two South African organisations. The purposive sampling method was used to identify female employees who had participated as protégés in a mentoring relationship (N=17). Qualitative methods were used to collect and analyse data on the respondents’ experiences of the mentoring relationship. The findings indicated numerous barriers to mentoring for women. A basic taxonomy of recommendations for reducing these barriers in the workplace is recommended.