Mentorship is a common tool for increasing entrepreneurs’ likelihood of success as well as for closing gender gaps, particularly in developing countries where the share of owner-entrepreneurs is greater and gender gaps are more pronounced. This paper studies the role of gender matching in entrepreneurship, asking whether mentorship is more effective at improving female entrepreneurs’ odds of success when mentors are female as well.
The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial in which they divided 930 Ugandan entrepreneurs into a treatment group and a control group. Next, members of the treatment group were also randomly assigned a mentor from whom they received up to six months of virtual business support. Two years later, the authors collected data on sales and profits at the entrepreneurs’ businesses, revealing the following:
What drives these effects? The authors conducted follow up analysis using written meeting summaries, data on customer relations, and information about entrepreneurs’ levels of aspiration. They found the following:
This paper makes the case for same-gender mentorship as a tool for helping to overcome the pervasive barriers to business success faced by female entrepreneurs in developing economies. More broadly, the approach holds promise across the many contexts in which women’s advancement is stymied by “glass ceilings,” though future research is needed to determine where it will be most effective.