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Abstract

Women entrepreneurs are a rapidly growing demographic. Mentoring is a recurring theme in the literature as a valuable contribution in helping women entrepreneurs succeed. The roles of mentoring as well as the literature of mentoring relationships is presented, followed by a study in which the demand and perceived benefit for mentoring was conducted among women currently engaged or self-identified as aspiring small business owners and entrepreneurs. Women who participated a conference for female entrepreneurs, jointly sponsored by Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center, were surveyed. The survey consisted of five sections: the first gathered respondent’s current state of business ownership. Section two had respondents rate their own expertise level on a wide range of subjects with which entrepreneurs typically regularly engage and that will affect their success rate. In the third section, responses were gathered relative to their perceived need for a mentor. The fourth section asked respondents for basic demographic information regarding age and education, and the fifth section gathered information regarding whether the individual preferred mentoring from someone of the same or different sex. As a result of the survey, a very brief outline is proposed for developing a mentoring program through the Oklahoma Small Business Development (OSBDC) network.

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