Benefits of mentoring for women: what the research shows

Ask women who have reached senior roles what helped, and many name a mentor. But what does the evidence say? This guide pulls together the benefits of mentoring for women, using published research, and is honest about where the evidence is thinner than the headlines suggest.

The benefits of mentoring for women, in short

• Clearer career direction. In a Queen's University Belfast evaluation of its women's mentoring scheme, 83% of mentees rated the relationship positive or very positive and 62% had made a positive career move.
• Confidence and skills. In an Ipsos survey for TD, around 9 in 10 women with a mentor said their mentor was helping them build new skills (89%), deal with workplace challenges (89%) and build confidence (88%).
• Staying in the field. A study cited by the Society of Women Engineers found 100% of women engineering students with female mentors stayed in their major after year one, against 89% without mentors (Dennehy and Dasgupta, 2017).
• Better odds at work. GOV.UK guidance notes that people who are mentored or sponsored may be more likely to receive higher pay and more frequent promotions, and that schemes can improve job satisfaction and retention.

1. Career clarity and progress

A mentor helps you see options you did not know existed and test your thinking against someone who has done it. The Queen's Gender Initiative evaluation found 62% of mentees had made a positive career move after being mentored, and mentors gained too: more than half made a positive move themselves.

2. Confidence

Confidence is the benefit women mention most. In the Ipsos survey, 86% of women said a mentor's role in building confidence was important, against 82% of men. Regular, honest conversations with someone who believes you can do the next thing make the next step feel smaller.

3. Access to networks and sponsors

Many women are mentored but few are sponsored. The Chartered Management Institute found only 3% of female practising managers reported being sponsored and 19% mentored. A good mentor can open doors and introduce you to people who will advocate for you. See our guide to mentoring vs coaching for women for how sponsorship fits in.

4. Staying in male-dominated fields

In engineering and tech, seeing and talking to women ahead of you matters. SWE's research summary reports women in technology with a mentor are 77% more likely to stay in the industry for at least three years. We run dedicated mentoring pools for women in tech, motorsport, gaming and more; see our women mentoring and mentorship guide.

5. Mentors benefit too

Mentoring is not one-way. Mentors report new networks, fresh perspectives and renewed motivation. Read the benefits of being a OneUpOneDown mentor.

What the evidence does not show

Be wary of big claims. A BMJ Open systematic review of mentoring for gender equality in academic medicine found mentoring is popular with those who receive it, but no robust evidence that it reduces gender inequality; most studies used weak designs. Mentoring helps individuals most when it is well matched, structured and backed by an employer that also fixes unequal systems. It supports change; it does not replace it.

Getting the benefits: what makes mentoring work

• A good match. Shared goals and a mentor who has walked your path.
• A clear goal. Come with one or two things you want to change.
• Regular meetings. Little and often beats occasional.
• Honest feedback both ways.

On OneUpOneDown, more than 10,000 women have joined and over 6,000 matches have been made. Members rate their matches 4.5 out of 5 across 3,880 reviews. Matches run for three months, with rematching if it is not right. Not sure where to start? Read how to find a female mentor or compare options in the best women mentorship programmes in the UK.

Find your mentor on OneUpOneDown

FAQs

What are the main benefits of mentoring for women?

Career clarity, confidence, new skills, wider networks and, in some studies, better retention and progression.

Does mentoring help women get promoted?

It can. GOV.UK says mentored people may be promoted more often, but robust evidence on closing gender gaps is limited, so treat mentoring as one tool among several.

Do women need a female mentor?

Not necessarily. A mentor with relevant experience matters most, though many women value mentors who understand their specific challenges.

Is mentoring only for early-career women?

No. Women at every stage use mentors for transitions, promotions, returning to work or leading teams.

Sources

Queen's Gender Initiative mentoring evaluation (Queen's University Belfast); Ipsos for TD, mentorship study (2024); Chartered Management Institute, Women's Success; Society of Women Engineers, The Global Power of STEM Mentorship (2025); GOV.UK, Offer mentoring, sponsorship and other development programmes (2026); BMJ Open 2021, mentoring and gender equality in academic medicine.