Leadership Mentoring and Motivation to Lead among Female Protégés.

Leadership mentoring helps females overcome perceived gender role barriers. Thus the number of females in leadership positions may be increased with good mentoring that will enhance their motivation to lead. In this paper, we examined the extent to which mentoring influences female leaders' motivation to lead via increased leader self-efficacy. Data were collected from nine organizations in South Korea. We found that motivation to lead was fostered by high quality mentoring through enhanced self-efficacy. In addition, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and motivation to learn also played important roles in elaborating this mechanism in positive ways. Theoretical and practical implications are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]