The Power of Positive Mentors: Variables Associated with Women's Interest in Social Work Administration

Abstract

Some of the strategies for overcoming obstacles to gender parity in organizations include consciousness-raising, mentoring, informal support, training, and role modeling. The present study explored whether there was evidence to support the use of these strategies based upon the past experiences of female graduate social work students. Experiences with mentors and consciousness-raising were the only two variables found to be predictors of interest in administration among these students. Even though these students expressed a preference for the masculine stereotype in their descriptions of the good administrator, this variable was not found to be a predictor of interest in administration.