Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Female Entrepreneurship, Women in Tech Industries, Skills Needs and Balanced Regional Development: Enterprise Ireland

1:40 pm

Ms Jean O'Sullivan:

From the mentoring perspective, there is a mentoring area within Enterprise Ireland and approximately 23% of our mentors within the panel are female. However, we do not always recommend that a woman be mentored by a female mentor. Really, we are seeking to have a person get whosoever can offer the best advice. We find that programmes we support, such as going for growth, typically have all-female mentors. However, that is a choice that women have taken in that they want to enter a network of other women where they can see the journey on which they have gone and whether they can learn from them in a trusted environment. I am for networks in which women are mentored by women and then networks for women in which one is mentored by whoever is the best in that field.