Some mentors will be best able to help proteges learn about, for instance, the engineering network, cultural mores, and ways to succeed. Other mentors will have a better understanding of how to overcome discrimination from their own experiences. In some instances you will be matched up with mentor or protege from the opposite sex, in others, from a different race. Either way, we provide information that will assist you in developing an effective mentoring relationship. Some studies suggest it is better for women to have female mentors, others say that male mentors are better because they have readier access to existing power structures.
All studies suggest that having a mentor is beneficial and having several mentors is even better.
In the instances where you are in a cross-gender mentoring relationships, there are likely to be both advantages and disadvantages. The research suggestions that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore men may be better able to open doors and make connections for others. Men view and consider power and influence differently than women do. Because the power structures have been designed by a male culture, the training a woman receives from a male mentor may help her adjust and advance more quickly.