Learning with the devil: mentoring and advocates

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research was to understand the lived experience of mentoring to provide insight for those who manage and experience mentoring at work.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with a cohort of 43 mentors and their mentees plus key informants were conducted. It is a longitudinal qualitative study undertaken with a year's cohort of mentors (referred to as “devilmasters”) and mentees (“devils”) in the profession of law, amongst Scottish barristers, advocates.

Findings

The meanings of mentoring differed widely between individuals. Mentoring relationships differed in their depth, quality and benefits the mentees received. The research findings reveal the inconsistencies and inequalities that are a fundamental part of the experience of mentoring that, as yet, the research literature has missed. The research also revealed how mentoring alone was not enough and that structured training was required to supplement mentoring. Further, there is a dependency to be found in mentoring. The mentoring process is power laden.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers may need to provide a definition of mentoring to those they research. Power needs to be fore-grounded in research.

Originality/value

As almost all previous research on mentoring is survey based, this is one of the few studies of the lived experience of mentoring, socialization and cognitive apprenticeship.

Citation

Wilson, F. (2022), "Learning with the devil: mentoring and advocates", Personnel Review, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 464-479. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-08-2020-0649