Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Technology: Construction Management
Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying
in the
Faculty of Engineering
at the
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
2015 / This study examines factors contributing to the successful mentorship of women in the South
African construction industry. Mentorship is used as a tool to advance women in organisations,
because they have experienced difficulties progressing in their careers in the past. Even though
women are in mentorship programmes, they still receive less mentorship functions than their
counterparts. As a result, women have limited advancement in the construction industry due to
factors affecting their successful mentorship. This study identifies and examines the factors
contributing to the successful mentorship of women. The objectives of this study were to: (1)
test the extent of the influence that the psychosocial mentoring function has on the successful
mentorship of women; (2) test the extent of the influence of the career mentoring function on the
successful mentorship of women; (3) determine whether the age, gender and race of the
mentor-mentee have an impact on the successful mentorship of women; (4) examine the
perception of the impact of the entrepreneurial ability of women on the mentorship programme;
and (5) to determine whether the mentorship of female mentees is affected by the attitudes of
mentors.
An in-depth pilot study was carried out during the initial stages of the study to gain more insight
about the study. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews from female
mentees in the Western Cape Province. Data was analysed by content analysis. Findings
revealed that the gender and the race of mentors did not have an impact on the success of the
female mentees’ mentorship. The age of mentors did impact on knowledge gain. Female
mentees reported having open and positive relationships with their mentors.
A survey study approach was adopted in the main study. A purposive sampling of female
mentees and their mentors was selected. Data was gathered in South Africa. Inferential and
descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Findings revealed that the psychosocial
mentoring characteristics and career mentoring characteristics that influence the successful
mentorship of women are role modelling, counselling, acceptance-and-confirmation, coaching
and providing challenging tasks. It also emerged that the age and race of female mentees did
not have an influence on the successful mentorship of women and that the successful
mentorship of women is not affected by the attitude of mentors. It was found that mentors have
positive attitudes towards the mentorship of women and that this is contributing positively to the
successful mentorship of women in the South African construction industry. The study also
revealed that female mentees are high performers, whose knowledge and productivity has
increased in the work place.
The study therefore concludes that the mentorship of female mentees in the construction
industry is successful. It is recommended that females in the construction industry should
register themselves to mentorship organisations such as SAWIC, especially those who are not
mentored.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1064 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Yokwana, Ntombekhaya Rose-Anne |
| Publisher | Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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