"Mostly the book is about finding the father, a male mentor," he says.

Have male mentors always known this truth?

If these women were not competent (and, in some cases, more accomplished than their supposed male mentors), they would not be in their jobs.

He's a male mentor for freshman students.

However, a majority of the executives also said that male mentors had been important to their career achievement.

Nevertheless, she still owes much to a male mentor who, in a previous job, told her: 'You can do it.

A woman with a male mentor could experience difficulty in gaining bonding and advice from out of work experiences.

"It was a male mentor who taught me sensitivity toward the preservation of fertility," she says.

Ms. McCarty credits a male mentor and boss, who acted as an advocate.

Luckily, I had male mentors who helped me break barriers.