FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER

PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

The sheer volume of literature on mentoring across a variety of disciplines is an indication of

the high profile it has been afforded in recent years. This paper draws upon a structured

analysis of over 300 research-based papers on mentoring across three discipline areas in an

attempt to make more valid inferences about the nature and outcomes of mentoring. It begins

by reporting on the findings compiled from a database of research papers from educational

contexts. These research-based papers are examined to determine the positive and more

problematic outcomes of mentoring for the mentor, mentee and the organization. A discussion

of the findings from two other databases, namely, 151 research-based papers from business

contexts and 82 papers from medical contexts, is provided and commonalities across the three

databases are highlighted. The paper concludes with a discussion of key issues that

administrators responsible for establishing mentoring programs should consider to maximise

the experience of mentoring for all stakeholders.

Key Words

Mentoring, education, business, medicine, challenges

FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER

PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Introduction

This paper represents an ongoing quest to synthesise our current understandings of the

mentoring phenomenon. As researchers in the field, we were conscious that a great deal of

writing in the area of mentoring in education and across other professional disciplines

reported that mentoring was an overwhelmingly positive learning process for mentors and

mentees alike ( 2002). Our initial investigation of mentoring in

educational contexts confirmed this since there did not appear to be a substantial body of

work which reported on the “darker side” of mentoring ( 1994; 1997). Thus we

became interested in examining more closely a sizeable body of the mentoring literature so

that we could begin to make more valid inferences about its potential to be a beneficial force

in educational contexts. To this end, we compiled a database of research papers from

educational contexts and undertook a structured analysis of these papers. A structured

analysis is a pre-determined set of criteria, namely a set of coding categories, that is used to

analyse literature. In this study, we coded each of the studies according to descriptive data

(i.e. positive and problematic outcomes of mentoring for the mentor, mentee and the

organization) and then identified the frequency of occurrence of the predetermined coding

categories. Findings from the analysis of the education-focused studies prompted us to

investigate the nature, frequency and outcomes stemming from mentoring in other

professional areas such as business and medicine. Following the study of educational

contexts, we repeated the process and compiled a database of research papers on mentoring

from business contexts and medical contexts. While the focus of this paper reports on the

positive and more problematic outcomes of mentoring from our structured review of papers

from education contexts, it will also illuminate the features of mentoring common to the three

different contexts (i.e. education, business and medical contexts). This paper begins with a

discussion of the meaning of mentoring, identifies some of the common strengths and

weaknesses of mentoring and then proceeds to discuss the methodological process that guided

the study.

The Meaning of Mentor and Mentoring

The original meaning of the word, mentor, refers to a “father figure” who sponsors,

guides and develops a younger person. Throughout history, mentors have played a significant

role in teaching, inducting and developing the skills and talents of others. Indeed, there are

many examples of mentors in the biographies of famous artists, scientists and musicians

( 1991) who have played a key role in shaping their protégés or mentees’ destiny.

Traditional or informal mentoring arrangements where the mentor and mentee

somehow find each other ( 1985) continue to operate in many contexts. It was only in

the last two to three decades that formal mentoring programs were introduced in government

departments and corporations. This movement occurred because organizations could see the

advantage of implementing formal programs since they enabled potential learning and growth

for employees on the job (1999). Our concern in this paper lies with

formal mentoring programs.

Formal mentoring programs differ greatly in nature, focus and outcomes. For instance,

in her extensive review, (1991) noted that some programs train mentors, while others

do not; mentors are assigned to mentees and in other programs the mentee selects the mentor;

some programs designate the location and frequency of meetings, while others leave it to the

participants to decide. In addition, some programs are evaluated while others are not or are

“evaluated” by vague and imprecise techniques ( 1991). In relation to evaluations of

mentoring programs,  (1983) concluded that many “consist of testimonials and

opinions” . After reviewing over 300 research-based papers on formal mentoring

programs, we would support  claim.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Mentoring

Our precursory investigation of the literature revealed that there tends to be a general

acceptance that mentoring yields benefits for mentees and mentors. Career advancement and

psycho-social support are often identified as two important outcomes of mentoring for the

mentee ( 1985; 1978). For instance, in

terms of career outcomes,  (1979) found that 75% of the top executives in the United

States had been mentored and compared with their counterparts, earned 28% more, were more

likely to have a degree, were happier with work, and more likely to mentor others. Psychosocial

support, such as encouragement, friendship, and advice and feedback on performance

( 1985), has also been identified as a positive outcome of mentoring for mentees.

As mentoring is a two-way or reciprocal process, it provides benefits also for the

mentor. For instance, the work of  (1978) found that mentoring rejuvenates

mentors’ careers since it enables them to assist and shape the professional and personal

development of mentees. According to  (1997), other benefits for the mentor include

increased confidence, personal fulfilment and assistance on projects. In relation to the

benefits for the organisation,  (1991) identify several benefits of formal

mentoring programs including increased productivity, improved recruitment efforts,

motivation of senior staff, and enhancement of services offered by the organization.

While there is a considerable body of literature that documents the merits of

mentoring for all parties,  (1997) is more cautious. According to  (1997), “under

various conditions, the mentoring relationship can actually be detrimental to the mentor,

mentee or both” (p.115). She goes on to identify several concerns regarding mentoring

including a lack of time for mentoring; poor planning of the mentoring process; unsuccessful

matching of mentors and mentees; a lack of understanding about the mentoring process; and

lack of access to mentors from minority groups. (1997) also highlights the difficulties

that mentoring poses for organizations if there is insufficient funding or termination of

funding before the program is established. Other drawbacks of mentoring from the

organization’s point of view include problems when there is a lack of support; the difficulties

in coordinating programs within organizational initiatives; and the costs and resources

associated with mentoring (1997).

It seems that as formal mentoring programs are planned, structured and coordinated

interventions within an organisation’s human resource policies, it makes sense for those

charged with the responsibility of implementing such programs to endeavour to ensure that

the goals of the program are clear and known to key parties; that mentors and mentees are

well-matched; and that organizational support and commitment are evident. Since

organizations including schools invest considerable resources into mentoring programs, it is

incumbent on the planners, such as educational administrators, to minimise potential

problems that could arise. The final part of our paper attempts to synthesise some of the

recommendations that educational administrators should consider when planning and

implementing a formal mentoring program. Before we discuss these recommendations, the

next section of this paper turns to the methodological process that we used in analysing the

body of mentoring research reviewed.

Methodology

We used a structured analysis of the literature from three discrete disciplines in order

to arrive at our understanding of the mentoring phenomenon. For inclusion in the three

reviews, studies had to meet two criteria. Firstly, they had to report original research findings

and, secondly, they had to focus on the use of mentoring in an educational setting (such as

schools or universities), business context (government or non-government organizations) and

medical context (hospitals, universities, and other medical contexts). Databases used for the

literature search on education contexts included ERIC, AUSTROM (AEI), PsycLIT and

ProQuest. Databases used for the search in business contexts used some of these plus EBSCO

and Business Periodicals Index, Business Australia on Disk, Science Direct and Emerald.

Databases used for the analysis of mentoring in medical contexts included some of

aforementioned in addition to Health Reference Centre – Academic, Medical Library,

Webspirs, Australasian Medical Index and Google.

Our search of the selected education databases identified above revealed 159 studies

conducted between 1986 and 1999. From the search of business databases, 151 studies

between 1986 and 2000 were identified and later analysed. While 82 articles between 1995

and 2002 were found from the medical databases, only eight studies reported on the outcomes

of mentoring and were therefore eligible for use in our study. The overarching majority of the

papers from the medical field were descriptive in nature and seemed to focus on the value of

engaging in mentoring. This suggests to us that research in the area of mentoring in medical

contexts is variable and relatively new in comparison with other fields such as education and

business. It is important to appreciate that while mentoring in the medical field has been

around for many years, “most … is informal and by its nature, often invisible” (1999)

All of the studies were analysed according to a coding sheet which was developed

from a preliminary reading of 14 articles in the area of educational mentoring. Two main

categories of data were coded. These were factual data comprising the year of publication,

source (eg journal, research report), country of study, sample size and data collection

techniques employed; and descriptive data comprising the reporting of positive and

problematic outcomes associated with mentoring for the mentor, mentee and organization

across the three databases. The descriptive data underwent content–analysis to identify

underlying themes or categories ( 1990).

The findings discussed in this paper refer to the descriptive outcomes that emerged

from the three sets of analyses. In this article, the four most frequently identified positive and

problematic outcomes for mentors, mentees and the organization will be highlighted. We have

reported elsewhere precise details concerning both the factual and descriptive findings from

the studies (2002,2003,September)

Findings

Positive Outcomes of Mentoring from Education Studies

Of the education studies reviewed, 35.8% reported only positive outcomes as a result

of mentoring and four studies (or 2.5%) reported exclusively problematic outcomes. In

relation to the benefits for mentors, less than half (47.8%) of the education studies that

reported some positive outcome associated with mentoring identified benefits for the mentor.

In contrast, substantially more studies noted positive outcomes for mentees (82.4%) than for

mentors. This can be attributed to the fewer studies that sought opinions from mentors.

Insert Figure I here

Figure I presents the four most frequently cited positive outcomes (in percentages) of

mentoring for mentors and mentees in the education studies. As illustrated, the most

commonly cited mentor outcome was that of collegiality and networking. Almost 21% of the

education studies reported benefits associated with collaborating, networking or sharing ideas

with colleagues. For instance, school principals in  (1993) Australian qualitative study

noted “cross fertilisation of ideas” as being a beneficial outcome of mentoring. Similarly, a

teacher in a mentoring program in the USA noted that mentoring provided “a unique

opportunity for teachers to share and exchange ideas with other teachers” (1986)

Reflection was the second most frequently cited outcome for mentors with 19.5% of

studies attributing reflection or reappraisal of beliefs, practices, ideas and/or values to their

mentoring activities. For instance, a mentor teacher in a university pre-service teacher

education program in Australia commented that “you reflect on your own teaching … its

some incentive to improve, work harder, try other things” ( 1994). Mentoring was

also said to facilitate the professional development of mentors. Just over 17% of studies made

reference to the important outcome of professional development. As an illustration, a mentor

teacher in a study by (1998) described her experience as “a

worthwhile professional experience in its own right” (), while  (1996) quoted a

mentor in her United Kingdom study as saying that mentoring “added another dimension to

his experience” ()

Personal satisfaction, reward or growth (16.4% of studies) was the fourth most

frequently cited outcome for mentors. This sentiment was exemplified by a teacher mentor

in Holmes’ (1991) study who commented, “I love working with these students and learn so

much from them as well as about myself” ().

As indicated in Figure I also, the most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees,

evident in 42.1% of studies, related to support, empathy, encouragement, counselling and

friendship. Both mentee teachers and headteachers indicated that support was an important

outcome of mentoring. For instance, a mentee headteacher in (1995)

United Kingdom study stated “knowing that there is somebody in the background I can turn

to is a great source of comfort” (). Similarly, a beginning teacher in an Australian study

by  (1995) commented, “I feel very comfortable around her

[mentor] and know she is there to help where she can”

Assistance with classroom teaching was the second most frequently cited positive

outcome for mentees. Just over 35% of the studies pinpointed help with teaching strategies,

content, resources, classroom planning and or discipline. This high percentage is reflective of

the large number of studies in the review that focused on mentoring for pre-service or

beginning teachers. As an illustration, a pre-service teacher in  (1999) United

Kingdom study noted, “I gained a lot of subject knowledge on areas I was not experienced in”

The third most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees, noted in 32.1% of

studies, related to contact with others and discussion. This category included discussing or

sharing ideas, information, problems and gaining advice from peers. As an illustration, a

mentoring program for black /ethnic minority school and university students in the United

Kingdom “acted as a positive form of networking” that enabled students to “establish that

their problems are not unique to them alone” (1996).

Feedback via positive reinforcement or constructive criticism was the fourth most

frequently cited outcome of mentoring for mentees. More than one in four of the studies (or

27.7%) reported that feedback was beneficial. For instance, in his investigation of educational

administration in Singapore,  (1995) cites one mentee as saying, “everyday a session is

provided for me to go through the completed tasks and my mentor would give me her

evaluation and feedback. This is most useful” ().

Common to both mentors and mentees are issues relating to sharing ideas and

knowledge. Although not shown in Figure I, other common positive outcomes for mentors

and mentees were reflection and professional development. Whereas these outcomes were

rated more frequently by mentors, reflection was reported in 15.1% of studies and

professional development was reported in 13.8% of studies for mentees.

Problems Associated with Mentoring from Education Studies

Almost half (48.4%) of the studies that reported problems identified problems for

mentors, while slightly fewer studies (42.8%) identified problems for mentees. As Figure II

reveals, the difficulties associated with mentoring were similar for both mentors and mentees

and, for this reason, will be discussed together. The two most frequently cited outcomes were

lack of time, and professional expertise and/or personality mismatch. Lack of time was noted

in 27.7% of studies for mentors and 15.1% of studies for mentees. As an illustration, 14 of the

15 mentors in  (1992) study of preservice teacher mentoring in the United

States claimed that lack of time was their “greatest impediment” (p.17) while a mentor

headteacher in  United Kingdom study noted there is “such a shortage of

time these days to do everything that you need to do” (). In terms of a mentee’s

perspective, one trainee teacher in a study of teacher education partnerships in the United

Kingdom reported, “my mentor never has time; he is always so busy that I feel acutely

embarrassed if I need to bother him (1995).

Insert Figure II here

Professional expertise or personality mismatch was the second most frequently cited

problematic outcome for both mentors and mentees. Unsuccessful matches between mentors

and mentees were reported in 17% of studies for mentors and 12.6% of studies for mentees.

The mismatches were either the result of personality, ideological or expertise differences. As

an illustration,  (1995) noted that professional and personality mismatches were a

major concern for mentor teachers in his United States study. These mentors expressed

anxiety about not getting on with their mentee, having to assist mentees who were working at

different levels or whose teaching philosophy differed from their own. Some of the studies

revealed that personality differences were instrumental in the failure of some relationships.

For instance, two mentees in a study by  (1993) attributed their ineffective mentoring

relationships to incompatibility with their mentors.

Equal numbers of studies (i.e. 15.1%), reported a lack of training or understanding of

program goals and the extra burden or responsibility as problematic outcomes associated with

mentoring. For instance, a mentor in  (1992) study admitted, “I have no idea what my

responsibilities are and I suspect he [the mentee] probably doesn’t either” (). In relation to

the added burden created by mentoring, a mentor in  (1996) study explained, “you

are having to add the role of mentor to an already full workload” (). For mentees, the

third and fourth most frequently cited problematic outcome of mentoring related to mentors

who were critical, out of touch, defensive or untrusting (10.7% of studies) and the difficulty

of meeting, being observed or observing their mentor (9.4% of studies). Referring to the

former, mentees in some studies indicated that their mentors had been overly harsh, critical

and out-of date in their thinking. A lack of flexibility and trust were apparent not only for

mentee teachers but also mentee principals. For instance, a potential school principal mentee

in  (1995) study noted, “the principal did not trust me to run the school as she did not

want to be held accountable for any mistakes that I might make” (). The other

problematic outcome for mentees, difficulty in meeting, often stemmed from timetable

clashes that resulted in limited opportunities to observe mentors (1997).

As indicated above, comparison of mentor and mentee problematic outcome

categories reveals some commonality across the groups. Both groups were reported to have

experienced problems stemming from lack of mentor time and professional expertise or

personality mismatch. The other categories for mentors were a lack of training and

understanding about the program and the perception that mentoring was yet another

responsibility or burden.

Positive and Problematic Outcomes of Mentoring for the Educational Organization

In addition to identifying positive and problematic outcomes of mentoring for the

mentor and mentee, our review also considered the outcomes for the organization. Just over

16% of studies cited one or more positive outcome that impacted upon the organization within

educational settings. The most frequently cited outcome that emerged from our review was

improved education or grades or attendance or behaviour of students (evident in 6.3% of

studies). For example, according to an Australian study of peer mentoring among law

students,  (1994) noted that mentoring resulted in increased levels of

attendance at lectures. The next three most frequently cited outcomes included “support or

funds for the school” (3.1% of studies), “contributes to or is good for the profession” (2.5% of

studies); and “less work for principals / staff” (2.5% of studies).

Only 8.8% of studies revealed one or more problems that directly impacted on the

organization. These problems were disparate and only two, costs and lack of partnership, were

reported in more than one study. For instance,  (1993) and  (1996) reported

that schools in the United Kingdom receive inadequate funding for the implementation of preservice

or beginner mentor programs while lack of partnership or communication with and /

or commitment from organizations was reported in a small number of studies. In the next

section we provide a discussion of the positive and more problematic aspects of mentoring

derived from the business and medical studies reviewed.

Outcomes from Business and Medical Studies

As anticipated, there were numerous outcomes for the mentor and mentee reported in

the business studies. However, due to the nature and the small sample of the medical studies

(N=8), it was not possible to distinguish between outcomes for mentors and mentees.

Positive Outcomes for Mentors and Mentees

The most frequently cited response from the business studies for mentors related to

networking and collegiality with 7.9% of business studies nominating collegiality /

networking as constructive outcomes from a mentoring experience. In the medical literature,

networking and a sense of community was also deemed important for the profession. The

prominence of this positive outcome was not surprising given that mentoring relationships

involve the sharing of knowledge and expertise and, as such, the process has the potential to

foster collegiality and collaboration. The other three most frequently cited positive outcomes

for mentors included “career satisfaction / motivation / promotion” (7.3%); “improved

skills/job performance” (6.6%) and “pride/personal satisfaction”’ (6.6%).

Similar frequently cited outcomes pertaining to career and skill development were

apparent for mentees from the business studies. A review of these studies revealed that

“career satisfaction / motivation / plans / promotion” was the most frequently cited response

(50.3% of studies), “coaching / feedback/ strategies” was rated in second place (30.5%), while

“challenging assignments / improved skills / performance” was the third most frequently cited

positive outcome for mentees (23.2%). That career development and skill enhancement

emerged prominently in the analysis was not unexpected since both outcomes are commonly

cited for mentors and mentees alike in the business literature. Indeed  (1985, 1983),

whose work was acknowledged in approximately 42% of the business papers, maintains that

key functions of mentoring are career development and skill development.

The fourth most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees was “counselling /

listening / encouragement” (21.9%). This type of outcome is akin to  (1985, 1983)

notion of the “pyscho-social” outcomes associated with mentoring. In all of the medical

studies, personal growth appeared as a positive outcome of mentoring for mentors and

mentees alike. In some instances, these were simply general comments indicating personal

growth, while other medical papers referred to enhanced confidence, interpersonal contact,

and being more valued as a person.

Problematic Outcomes for Mentors and Mentees

Many of the problematic outcomes experienced by mentors and mentees were similar

across the education, business and medical reviews. For example, frequently cited in the

reviews was “lack of time”. Lack of time was the most commonly noted problem by mentors

in the business studies (6%). It was also identified as a problematic outcome of mentoring in

the medical studies.

The second and third most frequently cited problematic outcomes for mentors in the

business review, were “negative mentee attitude / lack of trust / cooperation” (5.3%) and

“little training or little knowledge about the goals of the program” (4.6%). In the medical

context, a lack of mentor training was viewed by mentors and mentees as detrimental to the

well-being of the program. The fourth most frequently cited problematic outcome for mentors

was “jealousy / negative attitudes of others”. While jealousy was not an outcome that

emerged in the medical studies, what did emerge as a problematic workload issue was the

extra burden or responsibility that mentoring created for mentors.

In contrast to the mentor outcomes, the two most frequently cited problems for

mentees in the business studies were issues relating to race and gender (7.9% of studies) and

cloning or conforming or over-protection (7.3% of studies). The race or gender issues tended

to arise as a consequence of matching female mentees with male mentors as well black

mentees with white mentors. Similar to the problems experienced by mentors discussed

earlier, mentees reported particular mentor characteristics and behaviours as being

problematic. Problematic attitudes of others was noted as the fourth most frequently cited

negative outcome of mentoring for mentees (6% of business studies) and ineffective and

untrained mentors were seen as the third most frequently cited outcome for mentees (6.6% of

business studies.

An important problematic outcome of mentoring that was unique to the medical

studies was the perception of mentees that seeking help signalled a type of weakness or

inability to cope. Yet, mentoring by definition is a process that is based on support and

development. Perhaps this outcome can be explained in terms of the predominance of

informal mentoring arrangements in the medical field which can emerge if and when mentees

approach mentors for help.

Positive and Problematic Outcomes for the Organization

In contrast to the education studies reviewed in this paper, almost twice as many

business studies (30.5%) cited one or more positive outcome for the organization. The most

frequently cited benefit reported in 13.9% of studies was improved productivity or

contribution or profit by employees. Other outcomes from the business studies included

retention of talented employees (11.9%), promotes loyalty (6.6%) and improves workplace or

communications or relations (4%).

As was the trend in the education literature, the business literature featured fewer

studies reporting problematic outcomes of mentoring for the organization. Of these

problematic outcomes, two problems were cited in more than a single study. These were high

staff turnover which was seen to hamper the development of long-term relationships between

mentors and mentees, and gender or cultural bias in the organization which resulted in good

staff being overlooked in the mentoring process. In the medical studies, on the other hand,

organizational or attitudinal barriers was the most frequently cited problematic outcome of

mentoring. It was reported in seven out of eight of the studies. Problematic organizational

barriers included ambivalence to the project by management, minimal support from

management, issues relating to the use of resources, problems arranging schedules and a

belief that mentoring should not be formalised. In contrast, the belief that mentoring should

not be formalised was an issue that did not emerge from either the business or education

databases.

Discussion

The results from our study revealed, not surprisingly, considerable commonalities in

outcomes across the three reviews of the literature. For mentors, for instance, lack of time and

training, personal or professional incompatibility, undesirable mentee behaviours and

attributes such as lack of commitment and unrealistic expectations were issues that caused

problems for mentoring relationships. In addition, for some mentors, mentoring was a burden

or workload issue that often went unnoticed by others. Mentees, too, were concerned by a

lack of mentor interest and training and a host of problematic mentor attributes and

behaviours (e.g. critical or defensive behaviours). Professional or personal incompatibility or

incompatibility based on other factors such as race or gender was also seen by both mentors

and mentees as impediments to the success of the relationship. Organizations, too, were

confronted with difficulties arising from mentoring programs. Lack of commitment from the

organization, lack of partnership and funding problems were reported in some studies, while

in others, cultural or gender biases meant that some mentees’ experiences were not positive.

Despite the shortcomings of mentoring, our findings suggested that mentoring appears

to offer far-reaching benefits for mentors and mentees. Many of the reviewed studies

indicated that mentoring provided both personal and emotional support as well as career

development and satisfaction. For mentees, mentoring provided opportunities to develop

competencies and skills, knowledge and improve performance. For mentors, it promoted

professional and personal development. Benefits of mentoring for both groups included

improved skills, access to new ideas and personal growth.

The aforementioned discussion has highlighted the major themes and common

outcomes that emerged from our three reviews. While word limitations prevent us from

identifying all of the points of divergence that we found, some attention will be afforded in

the following discussion to two important points. These are the issue of “reflection”, which

emerged as a positive outcome unique to the education studies, and “gender and race” that

emerged as a significant focus and source of incompatibility between mentors and mentees in

business settings.

Reflection

The first issue, reflection, was a significant outcome of mentoring in the education

studies only. This is unsurprising given that reflection is a term that has been used in the

education field for the last two decades or more and described as the “sine qua non of the

“teacher-researcher”, “action research” and “reflective practitioner” movements” (1993)

 (1987), a proponent of the “reflective practitioner” movement, suggests that the

key to development for teachers lies in their ability to reflect on their own learning. This

process is also called, “reflection in action”. (1983, 1987) maintains that the process or

act of reflecting has considerable power in enabling a person to change his or her work

practices and / or personal beliefs. Thus, the mentoring process has been identified as a

vehicle in facilitating reflection since it provides opportunities for mentors and mentees

together and alone to reflect upon their practice, reconsider what they are doing and why and

work towards improving their professional practice. Our review confirmed in educational

contexts that mentors, in particular, and mentees to a lesser extent, consider reflection to be

fundamental to the overall development of an educator.

Gender and Race Issues

The second issue emerging from the comparative analysis relates to the prominence,

in the business studies, of gender and race issues. Our review of these studies revealed that

30.5% examined gender, 6% examined race, and a further 6% examined both race and gender

issues. In contrast, gender and equity were the focus in only a very small sample (2.5% and

1.9%) of the education studies that we reviewed. As identified earlier in the paper, the most

widely investigated mentoring focus in the education studies, accounting for nearly two-thirds

of all studies reviewed, was mentoring for practice or beginning teachers. This is not to say

that issues of gender and equity are unimportant within the field of education. On the

contrary, there is a growing body of research that has specifically investigated the outcomes

of mentoring processes and programs for women and people of colour across a range of

educational contexts (1996;  1995;2000)

 What is more likely is that the interest in gender

and race so apparent in the business literature has coincided with the introduction of

formalised mentoring programs within organisations.

Indeed, one of the reasons that formal mentoring programs were introduced into

organizations in the United States and to a lesser extent in Australia, was to address

affirmative action legislation (1995). It was thought that such programs would help

make mentoring more accessible to women and members of minority groups

 (2000 ;1997;  1988; 1989). It appears, however, that even when members of

minority groups participate in mentoring programs, problems can and do occur. As our review

of business studies findings revealed, gender and race misunderstandings were frequently the

source of incompatibility between mentors and mentees (1989; 1990). These

problems highlight the need for planners of mentoring programs to be vigilant in the matching

process so that cultural, racial and gender factors are taken into account. As was discussed

previously, the dimensions of personality and professional ideology are also critical in the

matching process of mentors and mentee within all three professions - medicine, education

and business. The issue of matching is also highlighted in the latter part of the paper as one of

the key challenges facing administrators charged with the responsibility of implementing

formal programs.

In summary, then, our study of mentoring from three diverse areas indicated not only

many common themes and points of convergence, but also that mentoring seems to offer

considerably more benefits than drawbacks. We state this on the strength of the numbers of

studies reporting exclusively problematic outcomes compared with those reporting

exclusively positive outcomes. Our analysis suggests, too, that mentoring is a highly complex,

dynamic and interpersonal relationship that requires, at the very least, time, interest and

commitment of mentors and mentees and strong support from educational or organisational

leaders responsible for overseeing the program. Our analysis confirmed a conclusion that we

reached elsewhere that suggests “the negative [or more problematic] outcomes associated

with mentoring can be minimised by time and effort being directed toward the design and

implementation of theoretically sound programs” (1999). With this

thought in mind, the final part of the paper highlights five important issues educational

administrators or planners of mentoring programs should consider in order to minimise a

range of potential problems from arising.

Issues and Challenges for Educational Administrators

The decision by a school, an educational district or a state department to engage in a

mentoring program should not be the consequence of some chance event. In our examination

of the educational literature, it appeared that some programs resulted from a hasty decision

that mentoring had much to offer. The resultant programs often lacked intellectual rigour,

were poorly planned and inadequately resourced. In addition, mentors were untrained and

participants were unaware of program objectives. If such programs were evaluated, there was

a tendency for this to be simplistic and based on anecdotal evidence. Unfortunately, the

reports of such programs do little for education as a professional discipline. It seems,

therefore, that there are several major challenges facing educational administrators

contemplating a mentoring program. These challenges are discussed next.

Awareness

In the light of the vast literature on mentoring, it seems inexcusable for those

educational administrators considering the implementation of a mentoring program not to

consult this resource. If asked to recommend starting points for the development of such

awareness high on any list would be the work of  (1997),  (1997) and

 (in press).  (1997) provides a summation of past studies and

makes several recommendations about possible programs. Awareness of the dangers of

negativity in the early stages of planning,  (1997) balances the rosy picture that

mentoring equates to satisfaction and positive outcomes. As  warns, there can be a dark

side to mentoring, but we believe that this can be minimised by awareness of potential

problems.

Support for the Program

Although the responsibility for coordinating an educational mentoring program may

be vested in human resources personnel, the initial starting point is the strategic plans of the

organization. Establishing the need for mentoring and making sure the financial resources and

personnel are available commences with the overall strategic plan. Depending on the size of

the educational structure involved, the objectives of the mentoring program may also be

determined at this stage. This would likely be the case with a statewide project but not

necessarily the manner in which an individual school would proceed. In a number of studies

we reviewed there was mention that the program did not seem to have the complete support of

senior administrators. For a mentoring program to be effective staff need to know the senior

executive officers of the district or region are actively supporting the development. It is

difficult for a mid-level administrator to drive a program if the staff members are aware that

he/she is not supported at the most senior levels. In fact, feedback loops to senior levels

during the implementation of the program seem to be beneficial. During the early planning

stages, it is important that administrators make it known that there will be transparency

concerning the nature of the program, how personnel will be selected, expectations of

participants and the evaluative requirements.

Mentor Training

Educational administrators must make numerous decisions about the mentoring

program but perhaps the most difficult decisions relate to who the mentors will be and how

they will be trained. Irrespective of the nature of an organization, not all personnel are suited

to be mentors. For instance, in a single school program, how does the principal tell some

Heads of Department or key teachers they are not required in the program? While some

educational programs call for volunteers to act as mentors, there is the possibility that the

volunteers may be those least suited to the role of mentor. This challenge is allied to the

knowledge that mentoring is an additional load for already busy staff. Having selected the

mentors, the administrators must determine how, or perhaps whether, mentors are to be

rewarded in some manner. Administrators must also consider the issue of training, commonly

cited in the literature as a key to the success of mentor programs. Decisions may need to be

made, for example, about whether training should be provided in-house or conducted by

external consultants.

Selection of Participants

Decisions surrounding who will be mentored must be made. Will educational

administrators call for volunteers or select staff on the basis of a set of predetermined criteria?

To a certain extent, this decision is probably determined by the objectives of the program.

Based on the literature, the two other issues that warrant scrutiny relate to the gender of

participants and the representation of minority groups. There is much literature that suggests it

has been women who have missed out on mentoring opportunities (1988;  1989)

and some studies report the potential for sexual discrimination against women in mentoring

settings ( 1989; 1984). Similar problems are reported with respect to

minority groups ( 1997;  1990). In educational settings where administrators have

ensured that equity policies have been fully implemented, it would be anticipated that gender

and minority group issues would not create serious issues. However, the question as to

whether mentors and mentees should be matched is clearly a question that must be resolved

by administrators.

Evaluation of the Program

Rigorous evaluation is essential and educational administrators will need to decide on

the model of evaluation to implement. Good practice suggests that there should be ongoing

evaluative tasks during the life of a mentoring program and a follow-up assessment some time

after the completion of the program. Much has been written about the relative strengths of

qualitative versus quantitative evaluation models. However, equally, if not more importantly,

is ensuring the validity and reliability of the procedures used.

Conclusion

An important finding to emerge from our structured analysis of over 300 researchbased

papers on mentoring across the areas of education, business and medicine, was that

mentoring has enormous potential to bring about learning, personal growth and development

for professionals. While the majority of reviewed studies revealed that mentoring does

provide a range of positive outcomes for mentors, mentees and the organization, it is not,

however, without its dark side. In some cases, poor mentoring can be worse than no

mentoring at all. Our belief is that the potential problems of mentoring are not

insurmountable. With careful and sensitive planning and skilful leadership, most problems

can be minimised. In the paper we identified several critical issues that educational

administrators should consider during the planning and implementation stages of formal

programs. Amongst these were the necessity for planners to be aware of the growing body of

research literature on mentoring; the need for program support at various levels; the

importance of mentor training; the careful selection of participants; and the need for ongoing

evaluations. If resources (both human and financial) are to be invested in mentoring

programs, those responsible for planning and implementing programs must be willing to

commit time, resources and energy to such programs. Indeed, all parties have a responsibility

to make mentoring work so that it can be a positive force for the individuals and their

organizations.

At this juncture, it is important to acknowledge several limitations associated with our

review. Firstly, the studies selected for review were limited in terms of their origin and scope.

Our review did not incorporate a true cross-section of studies from around the world; with

most emanating from the USA and other English-speaking countries. Although we searched

from a selected number of databases, by not searching others, such as “dissertation abstracts”

and favouring those from English speaking countries, we have limited the findings.

Consequently, it is possible that we may overlooked some key research studies from other

databases. Secondly, most studies we reviewed were dated from the mid 1980s to 2000. By

focusing on this time-frame, and not on more current research papers, we may have also

inadvertently neglected more contemporary mentoring issues and key outcomes for mentors,

mentees and organisations. For instance, it is possible that more recent studies, i.e. those

conducted from 2000 to the present time, may have reported on the “darker side of

mentoring” to a greater extent than those featured in our review. Thus, our findings need to

be considered in the light of the scope and time-frame of our study and therefore approached

with some reservations. Despite these limitations, we believe that our study contributes to the

growing knowledge base on this highly interpersonal, complex and dynamic learning

relationship.

 

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