Perception of Female Graduates towards Mentoring and Women’s Empowerment in Nigeria

Abstract

Mentoring generally refers to a relationship between a less experienced individual (a mentee or protégé) and a more experienced individual known as a mentor. Mentoring, as a system of passing knowledge from one person to the other cuts across racial and religious backgrounds. A mentoring relationship benefits the mentee by promoting increased professional efficiency andcollegial networks among other benefits. The present study is aimed at assessing the knowledge and attitude of female Nigerian graduates who are participating in a one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) towards mentoring as well as ascertain their need for mentoring. Survey research design was deployed as a framework to ensure that that the research questions were effectively answered through the use of questionnaires designed by the authors and administered to female NYSC members serving in Edo State, Nigeria. The questionnaires contained both open-ended and closed-ended questions. The findings showed that the knowledge of who a mentor is, is still very limited. Although a high proportion of the participants agree that having a mentor is a key factor in determining how successful one will become, the concept of mentor/mentee relationship is still not well understood. Many of the participants' perception
of mentoring is limited to receiving advice from superiors. Evidently, there are no formal mentoring structures in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, mentoring assumes an amorphous and unstructured outlook. Not even one respondent could identify a formal mentoring structure in their institutions. The closest explanation was having advisers and relations who offered advice when needed. It is however recommended that there should be a policy that will stimulate mentor-mentee relationship both in the public and private sectors, consequently providing the right understanding and benefits of mentoring. It is also recommended therefore that there
should be an organized outreach programme for women, to help create a right attitude and prepare them to recognize opportunities for growth. In addition, some forms of structured internship programme such as you have for medicine, should be regulated to give mentees opportunities to grow, develop and become experienced in various fields.