Mentoring Women Is Not About Trying to “Rescue” Them

I believe there is a disservice when you start generalizing groups of people. Like saying all French smell bad. ( going to France this week, not really looking forward to it.) As for women I’ve been lucky to have spent a lot of time with two very strong, smart, and driven women. My wife and my daughter. Both cut from the same cloth. What one lacks in experience she makes up in determination. The other a technical expert. Both are or will be a force to be reckoned with. I have had the opportunity to work with other women who have been just as strong. It is threw their strength that I understand that women are better suited to rule this earth. Which may be why men have been trying to keep them down for so long. But every woman, like every person, should stand on their own merit and be dealt with in that manner.

Pretty heavy stuff for a Sunday morning.

I will let the two individuals that commented on the original article speak for me -

Jennifer DiClerico 10 days ago
This piece is rife with gender stereotyping and unconscious (or even conscious?) bias, which is ironic given its subject matter. To perpetuate different mentoring programs for men ("the traditional, hierarchical, unidirectional mentoring model") and women ("essentially partnerships in which men and women play complementary roles leading to career and personal development for both parties") further galvanizes the gender status quo. It's also a shame that the authors don't seem to appreciate the wisdom of the reciprocal mentoring relationship even for male/male situations.
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PAOLO GAUDIANO 9 days ago
I agree! As a man who has mentored a number of people, both women and men, I was disappointed with the unsupported characterization of men as either scared or wanting to be heroes. More generally, the article reads like an attempt to jump on the #MeToo bandwagon. Next time you want to inject some gender in your writing you should consider asking a woman to be co-author.