This study examines how gendered communication styles in mentoring affect entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (Trope & Liberman, 2010), we investigate how mentors’ advice—abstract or concrete—varies by the entrepreneur’s and mentor’s gender. Abstract advice promotes innovative thinking and autonomy, while concrete advice focuses on task-specific guidance, potentially limiting strategic vision. Prior research highlights persistent gender disparities in entrepreneurial mentoring, with female entrepreneurs often receiving more concrete advice, hindering their creativity and autonomy (Balachandra et al., 2019; Eddleston et al., 2016). We hypothesize that mentors provide concrete advice more frequently to female entrepreneurs and abstract advice to male entrepreneurs (H1), that mentor gender moderates this relationship (H2), and that gender stereotypes mediate the level of abstractness in advice (H3). Lastly, we propose that abstract communication enhances entrepreneurial self-efficacy (H4). These hypotheses were tested through experiments with 420 participants. Findings reveal that female mentors are more likely to offer concrete advice to female mentees, whereas male mentors provide similar advice across genders. Additionally, female entrepreneurs are expected to embody both feminine and masculine traits, while male entrepreneurs are primarily associated with masculine traits. Abstract communication significantly boosts entrepreneurial self-efficacy, supporting H4. This study contributes to the entrepreneurial mentoring literature by showing how gender-based dynamics influence communication styles, with implications for addressing gender disparities in mentoring. These findings emphasize the need for gender-conscious mentoring practices to foster innovation, autonomy, and self-efficacy, particularly for female entrepreneurs.
