Occupational commitment of women working in SET: The impact of coping self‐efficacy and mentoring

The under‐representation of women employed in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) industries is a long‐term problem for human resource management. We report the results of a qualitative research study designed to investigate the factors that positively influence women's retention and occupational commitment within the MENA region. The data are based on 40 semi‐structured interviews of women employed in SET occupations. The results reveal that self‐directed attitudes (coping self‐efficacy, protean attitude and professional identity) and contextual support (mentoring and the quality of the mentoring relationship) positively influence women's occupational commitment in jobs in SET. Our contributions to academic research on HRM and HRD include the important role that the psychological functions of mentoring play in OCC. In terms of the contribution to practice, we propose that professional HRM institutes and associations could contribute by launching campaigns to promote greater organisational awareness of the potential of mentoring for retaining women in SET.