A mentorship study of women in the Department of Defense acquisition sector

Abstract

The present phenomenological study was designed to explore the perceived thoughts of management-level female personnel in the Army acquisition sector on their lived experiences with mentoring programs as a development tool intended to prepare women for promotion. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews focused on gaining insight into the factors management-level females believed were beneficial to promotion readiness. The resultant major themes for promotion preparation activities were (a) the importance of experience diversity and adaptability, (b) the importance of networking and interactions with professional organizations, (c) the role of mentoring for strengthening weaknesses, (d) the need for leadership and management training, and (e) the need for supervisors to use face-to-face forums for training identification.