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Thesis defences

PhD Oral Exam - Maria Carolina Saffie-Robertson, Business Administration

Understanding the Impact of Mentee’s Gender in the Development of Informal Mentoring Relationships in the Workplace


Date & time
Thursday, May 19, 2016
1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Cost

This event is free

Organization

School of Graduate Studies

Contact

Sharon Carey
514-848-2424, ext. 3802

Where

John Molson Building
1450 Guy
Room MB 14.250

Wheel chair accessible

Yes

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

Research regarding gender and mentoring suggests that women are mentored less often than their male colleagues, which could have a detrimental effect on women’s career development and growth. Although researchers have proposed different explanations and solutions to ease this phenomenon, women continue to report being under-mentored. In an effort to understand this issue in depth, two exploratory qualitative study were conducted. In the first study, twenty women holding tenure track academic positions in seven different business schools in Canada and the United States were interviewed to understand their experiences with mentoring. Through content analysis of the data, the existence of a type of barrier previously unidentified in the literature was unearthed, namely barriers to the development of the mentoring relationship. Two barriers to the development of a mentoring relationship, Need for Fit and Demonstrating Capability, are described and discussed in this study. Given these findings, a second study was designed in order to gain in-depth knowledge on barriers to the development of mentorships. Thirty three men and women from different organizations, industries and professions were invited to participate. The data from this second study supports the existence of barriers to development of mentorship. The data signals the existence of the two barriers identified in study 1, Need for Fit and Demonstrating Capability, while it also suggests the existence of other four barriers, Commitment of the Mentor, Trust in the Mentor, Need to Share a Goal/Vision and Admiration towards the Mentor. The relevance of these barriers seems to vary by gender and organizational context which would explain why women would be under-mentored when compared to their male colleagues. Implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.


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