Mentoring schemes are increasingly seen as a valuable tool to support women climbing the career ladder and address the enduring gender gap at the top of the international development sector, where men still dominate the majority of senior management positions.

The recent spate of stories of sexual abuse and harassment emerging from the aid sector, as well as from other industries, also serves to reiterate that there is a long way to go before women are likely to feel equal in the workplace.

Some organizations do offer mentoring schemes — for example, Oxfam GB has been running a mentoring scheme specifically targeting women at the headquarter level for three years; while the Aspire Foundation connects mentors with a business background to aspiring female nonprofit leaders. However, there is currently no cross-organizational or cross-development mentoring option out there for women.

Read the full article by Sophie Edwards about mentoring from Devex International Development