Insights and Challenges from Italian Regulations for Women Employment and Career Advancement : The Role of Mentoring Programs in Banking and Finance Industry

The article examines the implications of the regulations on women in the Italian context regarding specific measures introduced to promote their access to work and professional career. The existing regulations about cross-gender workforce imply significant effects on the Human Resource Management (HRM) policies in any organizations, especially in some sectors traditionally recognized as male-dominated and personality intensive contexts, like banking, insurance, finance, or consulting sectors. The role of mentoring programs is investigated in order to provide a significant contribution in applying the measures and interventions proposed by the regulations in Italy making them more effective in supporting women at workplace. The regulations in supporting women at workplace are well known, but their implications for the overall organizations are still under researched, especially with reference to the adequate mechanisms that may be able to effectively manage and support women without any discriminations, recognized the added value and valorising the diversified workforce. This theoretical study, through a review of the literature and a deep analysis of the regulations on the phenomenon investigated, aims to provide a critical lens in reading the existing legislative framework in Italy, developing the literature on the issue and suggesting mentoring programs as effective tools to really adopt this set of rules on women at workplace overcoming any limits and barriers