Mentoring across cultures: The role of gender and marital status in Taiwan and the U.S.

We examined the interaction of gender and marital status on attaining mentors among 405 managers and professionals in contrasting Taiwanese and U.S. cultures. In line with social role and signaling theories and the cultural concepts of gender-egalitarianism and individualism/collectivism, married U.S. women had a lower likelihood of having a mentor compared to single women or men. Being married disfavored U.S. women but did not disfavor Taiwanese women. Further analyses using only the U.S. protégé sample also revealed that being married was positively related to psychosocial mentoring received only among male protégés. We discuss results from a cross-cultural perspective.