Mentoring, Career Plateau Tendencies, Turnover Intentions And Implications For Narrowing Pay And Position Gaps Due To Gender Structural Equations Modeling

Abstract

This study analyzed responses to career-related questions from a survey of experienced Canadian Certified Management Accountants (CMAs), relative experts in the field of management accounting, to address how mentoring affects turnover intentions and career plateau tendency of male and female accounting professionals in industry. In this regard, we used structural equations modeling to build and test a framework illustrating the impact of mentoring and career-related factors. Results indicate that fostering a mentoring environment within an organization can strengthen CMAs perceptions of their careers and employers. Mentoring has also been suggested to enhance womens opportunities to advance in organizations and help women break the glass ceiling. Analyses of data relating to compensation in 2007 and 2009 for a sample of female and male CEOs and operating performance of companies led by these CEOs for these years indicate that, that compensation gaps due to gender appear to be narrowing at the top management level.