‘It’s only a phase’: examining trust,identification and mentoring functions received across the mentoring phases

Kram has proposed that mentoring relationships develop and mature over time, providing different levels of mentoring functions as they progress through a sequence of four distinct phases: initiation, cultivation, separation, and redefinition. However, the influence of these mentoring phases on the dynamics and functions of mentoring has received little research attention. This quantitative field study examined the effect of mentoring phases on protégés’ perception of trust and identification with their mentors and mentoring functions received using data from 88 working professionals from industry and education. Results of MANCOVA indicated that protégés in the redefinition phase reported higher levels of psychosocial support than other protégés, and protégés in the separation phase reported lower levels of career development and role modeling than other protégés. No significant differences across the mentoring phases were found for trust and identification among protégés towards their mentors; however, protégés from education reported lower levels of identification with their mentors than those from industry.     

Graduate student/faculty mentoring relationships: Who gets mentored,how it happens,and to what end

Given the importance of mentoring in the academic context, this study proposed five objectives. Analyses of surveys from 145 students across 12 universities and diverse disciplines, revealed first of all, a demographic profile of the typical graduate student protégé and faculty mentor. Second, ten diverse communication strategies emerged that demonstrate how students initiate a mentoring relationship. Third, protégé evaluations of their initiation attempts revealed their efforts to be somewhat ineffective and unduly difficult. Fourth, students reported their mentors to provide primarily psychosocial, rather than career support. And fifth, proteges characterized their mentoring relationships as extremely positive and satisfying. Results throughout are, for the most part, independent of both protégé and mentor demographics (including ethnicity).     

Progress and Education

Operational characteristics for successful mentoring programs of new university faculty include clarity of purpose of the program, methods for matching mentors and protégés, mentor training, mentor–protégé relationship building, and program effectiveness assessment. Strengths of formal, informal, peer, group or consortia, intra-departmental, inter-departmental, and research mentoring approaches to mentoring from the literature are presented. Using characteristics and outcomes from successful programs, a proposed four-stage model of conceptualization, design and development, implementation, and evaluation can lead to the benefits of socialization into the culture, emotional support, networking, and increased job performance.     

Mentoring as an Induction Tool in Special Education Administration

Mentoring is a widely used method of induction into a variety of professional roles, including educational leadership. However, little scholarly literature has focused on the role of mentoring in the career development of special education administrators. In this examination of 14 such mentoring relationships, the existence of career and psychosocial functions as theorized by Kram is explored and the perceived value of the functions to mentors and protégés in the career development of beginning special education administrators is identified. Evidence of coaching, a career function, and counseling, a psychosocial function, was found in all relationships studied and these two functions were ranked as most important to the career development of beginning special education administrators by both mentors and protégés. Recommendations include incorporating mentoring functions into mentor and protégé training to increase the positive effect of mentoring on the career development of beginning special education administrators.     

Mentoring expectations and realities: an analysis of metaphorical thinking among female undergraduate protegés and their mentors in a university mentoring programme

This article describes the differences between mentors’ and protégés’ expectations and realities regarding mentoring relationships and goals. Faculty and senior undergraduate mentors and female undergraduate protegés who participated in a formal, university mentoring programme at the University of Idaho, organised by the institution’s Women’s Centre, were asked to describe their ideal and actual mentoring relationship through metaphor; the responses were analysed qualitatively to explore protégés’ and mentors’ expectations and experiences. Results indicate that protégés held more traditional and hierarchical mentoring ideals at the beginning of the programme and that most mentoring ideals differed from actual experiences. Given this disparity and because metaphorical processes have the capacity to enhance mentoring experiences due to their generative and expansive capacities, we suggest that metaphors be employed in explicit ways to align expectations and realities between mentors’ and protégés’ expectations through shared reflection. We conclude with metaphorical exercises that can be used in formal mentoring programmes in higher education to help participants negotiate expectations and help organise relationships in ways that are aligned with the mission and goals of particular mentoring programmes.     

Interactivity Between Protégés and Scientists in an Electronic Mentoring Program

Interactivity is defined by Henri (1992) as a three-step process involving communication of information, a response to this information, and a reply to that first response. It is a key dimension of computer-mediated communication, particularly in the one-on-one communication involved in an electronic mentoring program. This report analyzes the interactivity between pairs of corporate research scientists (mentors) and university biology students (protégés) during two consecutive implementations of an electronic mentoring program. The frequency and structure of the interactions within each pair were examined to provide context: 542 messages were posted among the 20 mentors and 20 protégés. These messages were formed into 5–10 threads per pair, with 3–4 messages per thread, indicating a high level of interactivity (there were more responses posted than independent messages). Mentor–protégé pairs rated as effective by both mentors and protégés posted more messages overall, had well-structured threads, had protégé and mentor postings that were similar in topic coverage and message length, and had little overt “management” behavior by mentors. However, there appears to be no clear recipe for successful interaction. Not only are there a variety of factors at play in developing an online relationship in this context, but mentor–protégé pairs can falter at various stages in the process and in various ways.     

Examining gender similarity and mentor’s supervisory status in mentoring relationships

This study examined the influence of mentor’s status (supervisor vs. non‐supervisor) and gender similarity (homogeneous vs. diversified) of mentor–protégé dyads on protégé’s perception of mentoring functions and outcomes. We collected and analyzed data from 217 mentor–protégé dyads comprised of working professionals from a variety of industries. Results of MANCOVA indicated that supervisory mentors provided more career development functions than non‐supervisory mentors. Mentor–protégé gender similarity and mentor’s supervisory status interacted to influence psychosocial support, career development, and career satisfaction. Key findings are discussed in terms of implications for future research and career counseling in industry and education.     

Juggling the roles of parents,therapists, friends and teachers – a working model for an integrative conception of mentoring

Mentoring programs for youth have become increasingly popular interventions and are generally effective in promoting protégés’ wellbeing and functioning. Building on recent efforts to understand the interpersonal mechanisms underlying mentoring relationships, the authors apply central concepts from attachment, social support and social learning theories and systematically compare the mentor’s role with the roles of other caregivers (parent, therapist, friend, teacher). The authors highlight similarities and differences between mentoring and these roles, and discuss interpersonal dynamics specific to each relationship that can be enacted in mentoring. It is argued that the uniqueness of mentoring rests on mentors’ ability flexibly to transverse these different roles to some degree, without embodying any. Consequently, the authors underscore the existence of different profiles of mentoring relationships and suggest that these might address diverse protégés’ needs. This view serves to articulate specific recommendations for research and practice in light of protégé heterogeneity.     

Mentoring as Socialization for the Educational Leadership Professoriate: A Collaborative Autoethnography

In this study, we analyzed the experiences of an educational leadership doctoral student and aspirant to the professoriate (protégé) and an educational leadership professor (mentor) during our two-year mentoring relationship. Collaborative autoethnography was employed, and our analysis relied primarily upon a process-oriented model of mentoring. Four main themes emerged: (a) reciprocal trust, (b) experiential learning, (c) stability and change, and (d) mutual benefit. Our relationship also was marked by several critical features, and we described the timing and sequence of the socialization experience. This productive mentoring relationship offers a detailed model for doctoral students and faculty members who wish to pursue a similar relationship. From our research, we also contribute to the broader mentoring literature, in which previous researchers have rarely delved simultaneously into mentor and protégé experiences. Scholars who study mentoring will gain from insights into the manner in which anticipatory socialization unfolds, as well as critical features that emerge and evolve in the process.     

What Makes Informal Mentorship in the Medical Realm Effective?

Informal mentoring is based on a natural match between a junior individual and a senior one who share mutual interests. It usually aids in the professional and personal development of both parties involved. We reviewed the literature regarding factors that make informal mentoring effective within the medical realm, by searching a major academic search engine, Web of Knowledge, for the term “informal mentor*”. Our main research questions concerned the factors that lead to a successful informal mentorship process. A salient finding arising is that the success of informal mentorships hinges on the communication skills of mentor and protégé, their level of commitment, and the chemistry between the partakers. Good informal mentorships impose requirements on both mentors and protégés and rest on shared expectations.     

Principal transformative learning through mentoring aspiring administrators

Few researchers have explicitly examined the benefits to practicing principals engaged in mentoring aspiring principals. Through the lens of transformative learning, the purpose of our study was to examine the professional learning of practicing principals engaged as mentors with aspiring principals in a leadership preparation program. Two questions guided our study. First, how does engaging in the mentoring process lead to professional learning? Second, how does that learning manifest itself in principal practice? Findings suggested principal mentor/protégé and mentor/mentor interactions prompted mentors to question their own experiences and practices, problematizing some of these practices. Principals then generated solutions, which lead to changes in core beliefs and assumptions and finally changes in practices, reflective of transformative learning.     

Mentoring Effects on Protégés' Classroom Practice: An Experimental Field Study

Abstract

The classroom practices of protégés assisted by mentors who participated in a formal mentoring program were compared with protégés mentored by experienced teachers with no formalized mentoring preparation. Forty-six protégé-mentor pairs (23 treatment; 23 comparison) participated in this study conducted in 2 large school consortia in a mid-western state. Data include ratings and narrative records from classroom observations, weekly summaries of mentoring activities, and ratings of students' classroom behavior. Results indicate that protégés of mentors participating in the mentoring program could more effectively organize and manage instruction at the beginning of the year and establish more workable classroom routines. Also, their students had better behavior and engagement. Findings are discussed in light of the possible relationships between particular mentoring practices and protégés' learning to teach.     

Mentoring support and the professional development of beginning teachers: a Chinese perspective

For a long time, there has been a tradition in China of experienced teachers helping beginning teachers. This empirical school study investigates the kinds of support that are provided by eight dyads of mentoring teacher and first‐year secondary school teachers in Guangzhou of southern China and the major factors affecting mentoring support. In addition, this research focuses on the professional development of first‐year teachers in areas of subject knowledge, student, teaching and classroom management. The findings reveal that mentors provide four forms of support: provision of information, mutual lesson observation, collaborative lesson preparation and discussion in the office. Factors affecting mentoring support include teaching workload, grade and subject, style of mentor–protégé interactions, relationships between mentor and mentee, incentives for the mentors, and collegial culture in the case study schools. It is notable that there are positive and negative developments perceived by the protégé and the foci of mentoring tend to be the teaching of content rather than curriculum and pedagogy.     

Informal mentoring for aspiring school leaders: a phenomenological study

ABSTRACT

Informal mentoring had been previously identified as a vital component to leadership development and succession planning. Through a phenomenological approach, we sought to capture the lived experiences of aspiring school leaders pertaining to informal mentoring. Using open-ended questions and reflective activities, eight aspiring school leaders provided information about their experiences and characteristics of informal mentoring. Through a human science research perspective, four themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) defining informal mentoring, (b) characteristics of effective informal mentors, (c) constructive relationship, and (d) mentoring recommendations. Participants found their experiences with informal mentoring beneficial. There was a reported high level of trust between mentor and protégé and the process was flexible. Because the aspiring leaders sought to become school leaders in the near future, most were cognizant of the fact they needed to have quality mentors, but also be a mentor to new educators.     

Portraits of Our Mentoring Experiences in Learning to Craft Journal Articles

Tenure demands for scholarship and publication are increasing, with relatively little research on mentoring junior faculty and less on mentoring to craft journal articles. This qualitative self-study of mentoring experiences of three junior faculty members and their experienced mentor used portraiture methodology to address the research question, How did the mentoring experience, from both mentor’s and mentees’ perspective, reshape our thinking and understanding of the journal article writing process? Portraiture was employed somewhat differently, with mentor and mentee “painting” each other. Five emergent themes were found in the dyadic portraits written by protégés and mentor: beginnings, relationships, fears and worries, support and scaffolding, and outcomes. The mentoring relationships evolved from traditional to more collaborative, simultaneously becoming less hierarchical and involving cognitive and affective aspects. Crafting journal articles involved finding focus, backwards design, iteration, problem-finding, affirmation, and support. Eleven implications offer guidance for mentoring in university contexts and for future research.     

Mentoring in black and white: the intricacies of cross‐cultural mentoring

Cross‐cultural mentoring relationships can be sites of struggle around the issues of race, class and gender. In addition, the mentor/protégé relationship offers micro‐cosmic insight into power relations within western society. The authors of this paper, a black woman associate professor and a white male professor, use the example of their mentoring relationship to illustrate six common issues facing academicians involved in these relationships: (1) trust between mentor and protégé; (2) acknowledged and unacknowledged racism; (3) visibility and risks pertinent to minority faculty; (4) power and paternalism; (5) benefits to mentor and protégé; and (6) the double‐edged sword of ‘otherness’ in the academy. Literature is used for review and critique of mentoring in the academy while offering personal examples to illustrate the complexity and success of a 13‐year mentoring relationship between a duo who began their association as teacher/student.     

Mentor Advice Giving in an Alternative Certification Program for Secondary Science Teaching: Opportunities and Roadblocks in Developing a Knowledge Base for Teaching

Mentoring is often an important component of alternative certification programs, yet little is known about what novices learn about science teaching through mentoring relationships. This study investigated the advice given by two mentor science teachers to their protégés. Findings indicate that mentors gave more advice related to general pedagogical knowledge than science-specific pedagogical content knowledge. Specifically, there was little to no advice related to the topics of inquiry, the nature of science, or the development of scientific literacy. Implications call for an increase in communication between university teacher education programs and school-based mentors, the development of benchmarks to help guide mentor–protégé interactions, and the importance of a multiyear induction process.     

An analysis of mentoring conversations with beginning teachers: suggestions and responses

This study analyzes how mentor teachers make pedagogical suggestions to beginning teachers during mentoring conversations and how beginning teachers respond. Sixty-four conversations between 16 veteran teacher mentors and their beginning teacher protégés are examined and analyzed. The analysis reveals the extreme efforts of mentors to avoid giving direct advice, and a corpus that includes many indirect suggestions, about one-third of which produce elaborated responses from the novice teachers. It is suggested that the observed conversational patterns may be largely explained by the philosophy of the program (based on the Cognitive Coaching model) of which the mentors and beginning teachers are a part.     

Being a protégé: an autoethnographic view of three teacher education doctoral programs

Those in professional and academic fields generally perceive mentoring as a positive relationship that enhances the lives of protégés. Kram (1985 Kram, K.E. 1985. Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.  [Google Scholar]) posits that such relationships between dyads in organisational life are an evolutionary, developmental process. The purpose of this article is to explore protégés’ perspectives on their mentoring relationships within doctoral programs. In order to lessen the insurmountable distance between writers and readers that is often associated with a traditional research study, we employ an autoethnographic approach to research writing. We share our journey after having studied the mentoring relationships within our own doctoral programs. Qualitative data collected over a two‐year period consist of journal entries, email correspondence, and phone conversations. This research offers insight into the mentor–protégé relationship and processes, and it provides implications for practice for protégés and mentors, as well as future research directions.     

Virtual relationships and real benefits: using e‐mentoring to connect business students with practicing managers

This article reports the results of our study of electronic mentoring (e‐mentoring) in a population of business students. As career paths have become more fluid and less predictable, a growing number of educational and business organizations have implemented traditional and, more recently, e‐mentoring programs. But practice is ahead of evaluation when it comes to e‐mentoring. We attempted to fill this gap by looking more closely at strengths and weaknesses associated with this type of mentoring. Building on research in traditional mentoring and integrating literature in computer‐mediated communication, education and management, we developed a model of e‐mentoring’s antecedents and outcomes. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of business students (protégés) who were mentored by practicing managers. It was found that perceived similarity in terms of attitudes and values is positively related to effective e‐mentoring, while demographic similarity (gender, race) is not. Moreover, effective e‐mentoring may lead to protégés’ enhanced academic performance, professional network and job opportunities. We conclude with implications of our findings and a discussion of opportunities for future research.