Study Finds Young Women Lack Female Mentors

A survey of 1,000 professional women found that one in five women has never had a professional mentor, and more than half have never had a female mentor. The survey, by networking site LinkedIn, found that while having a mentor is nearly universally beneficial to professional women, women who have not ever had one say they don’t because they’ve never found anyone suitable.

One writer thinks that this can be attributable to the fact that women are so picky and lazy. In reality, it’s easier to relate professionally to someone who shares your gender, and the data shows that when female mentors are to be had, women are interested in working with them, if they can muster the courage to ask.

As more women have been in the workforce, there’s been a bigger supply of female mentors. Only 34% of Baby Boomer women say they’ve been mentored by a woman. Generation X reported an uptick in instances of being mentored by another woman, with nearly half receiving help from a more seasoned female veteran. And just over half of the current crop of 18-29 year olds say they’ve worked closely with an older female colleague.

Of women who have never been a mentor, 67% say they’ve never been asked.

Women and Mentoring in the US [LinkedIn]

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