Mentoring of women-owning SMEs in the South African construction industry

Challenges of women-owning small business have been noted in different economic industries globally. This situation is even more prevalent in the construction industry, where women face special challenges connected to their historic exclusion in the industry. Women small and medium enterprises in the construction industry grow slowly, lack crucial skills and industry experience, making it difficult for them to sustain their businesses. In this regard, mentoring has been acknowledged globally as a viable avenue to assist in developing women-owning small businesses and their chosen business careers. Mentoring in South Africa is acknowledged for its ability to develop the skills of small businesses owners. Accordingly, the mentoring approach was embraced by the post-apartheid South African government to eliminate past apartheid-induced socio- economic inequalities to develop women-owning SMEs across complex businesses such as the construction industry. Numerous mentorship policies have been introduced to obviate the challenges experienced by previously discriminated groups such as women to whom small-medium enterprise opportunities in the construction industry were hitherto inaccessible. Despite such ameliorative measures and interventions, women-owning SMEs in the construction industry continue to experience stagnant business growth and relatively higher business failure rates. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to ascertain the enabling conditions necessary for effective mentoring of women-owning small and medium enterprises in the South African construction industry. The study adopted a qualitative interpretivistic approach that provided insights into mentoring experiences and challenges facing women’s small and medium enterprises in the construction industry. Literature was gathered on small businesses with special reference to women small and medium enterprises in construction and by contextualising issues relating to mentoring such enterprises, especially in the construction industry. Data was gathered from interviews with 18 participants using face-to-face interviews and online platforms such as Teams and WhatsApp. Participants included women-owning small businesses whose businesses have been in operation for a minimum of two years and have participated in mentoring at some point during the operation of their business. Data was analysed inductively by means of content and thematic analyses using a combination of manifest, latent and constant comparative content analyse. The results of the interviews showed that the conditions necessary to create an enabling mentoring of women-owning SMEs in the construction industry include: specific policy v development, public and private sector involvement, industry-related mentoring, provision of female role models, increasing public awareness, provision of basic resources to participate, duration of programmes, mentor and mentee commitment and mentors with exceptional characteristics.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, 202