Exploring the role of mentorship in helping women to navigate intersectional identities in the work place when move into leadership roles

Abstract

Women across the globe have been underrepresented in leadership positions in several industries across various sectors. Moreover, their advancement into leadership roles is influenced by the intersection of their race, gender and ethnicity which informs how they have been able to access leadership development support such as mentorship. Despite organisations having implemented diversity and inclusion labour policies, issue of bias and stereotypes continue to create barriers for women’s advancement into leadership roles. The study is grounded in intersectionality theory and explores women’s leadership development and advancement into leadership from the perspective of intersectional identity and how it influences the challenges and opportunities that women encounter in their leadership journey. The purpose of this study is to explore how women navigate their intersectional identities in the workplace and how mentorship has or has not played a role in supporting them on their leadership journey. The research philosophy that was be employed for this study is interpretivism because the research seeks to understand the perspective and lived experiences of the 15 participants who narrated their experiences with mentorship, leadership development and barriers to leadership advancement. The 15 participants represent a number of races and ages and are from various industries that include, information technology, sports, law, corporate communications, education, human resources, project management and consulting.