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Within schools across the USA, mentees supported by mentors experience a number of potential benefits, including high job satisfaction, less attrition and more opportunities for professional/emotional guidance. However, these benefits are less understood in the context of formal mentorship specifically, as well as to what extent these supports apply to instructional practices. This study aims to address the minimally researched area of how being mentored might impact the instructional practices of teachers at all stages of their career.

Based on data recently published for the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in 2018, this study examines the relationship of teachers with formally assigned mentors, the number of total years of teaching experience and instructional practices. US teachers who responded to the target survey questions (n = 1,934) were submitted to several one-way analyses of variance to determine (1) the potential relationships between the presence of a formal mentor and instructional practices and (2) how different groups of teachers with varying numbers of total years of teaching experience impacted these relationships.

The results found that the presence of a formal mentor predicted higher classroom management practices, clarity of instruction practices and cognitive activation activities for the combined sample (p < 0.05), and for teachers with 15 years or more of teaching experience, the presence of a formal mentor predicted higher classroom management and clarity of instruction practices (p < 0.05).

The results provide evidence for the use of formally assigned mentors beyond new teacher induction, but the nature of the formal mentorships in this study is unclear. Future research should further investigate descriptive cases of more inclusive formal mentorship programs.

Addresses the effectiveness of the matching process of third party managed entrepreneurial mentoring programs. The role of government in encouraging enterprise development has been the subject of much debate. Examines one frequently utilized component of development agency involvement in assisting entrepreneurs – matching mentors and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs, who were assigned mentors by Ireland’s industrial development agency, responded to a mail questionnaire. Evaluates their satisfaction with the mentoring relationship, and their perception of the effectiveness of their assigned mentors. The results suggest the entrepreneurs’ age and education are factors that impact on whether they benefited from the engagement. The initial findings also suggest that mentors need not have experience in the industry of their mentee for the entrepreneur to benefit from the interaction. Also discusses socio‐cultural issues in the mentoring process and how they might impact the selection of a formal versus an informal entrepreneurial mentoring program by an economic development agency.

Examines the effects of a two‐year formal mentoring programme in a medium‐sized manufacturing company on the work motivation, organizational commitment and job performance of mentees. Single measures were obtained, for each mentor‐mentee pair, at the completion of the programme, from the 39 mentors and 39 mentees who remained. These measures included the pairs’ interaction opportunities; and the closeness of their relationship. At the same time, measures were obtained from mentees of their work motivation and organizational commitment. The performance of each mentee was given by ratings from their superiors. Significant relations were found between interaction opportunities and both motivation and commitment, and between relationship closeness and both these attitudes. Finds that the relations between the two mentoring variables and performance were both non‐significant. The results suggest that formal mentoring can improve employee attitudes without necessarily raising their performance, at least in the short term.

The purpose of this paper is to define and describe the mentoring mindset in a protégé. The central research question was: What constitutes a mentoring mindset in a protégé who is poised to receive maximum benefits from a mentoring relationship, as described by the mentor?

A phenomenological approach was used to conduct this study. Interviews were conducted with veteran school principals who were trained mentors, assigned and paired with newly appointed principals for a year of mentoring. The identification of the phenomenon of the mentoring mindset of the protégé was derived from the mentors’ perspectives of their protégés’ behaviors, dispositions, attitudes, and competencies, as they were conveyed in the research interviews.

A definition of the protégé's mentoring mindset was created after analysis of the interview data, and indicators of the presence and absence of the mindset were formulated into a Protégé Mentoring Mindset Framework that provides information on protégé competencies. The protégé with a mentoring mindset takes initiative, possesses a learning orientation, has a goal orientation, is relational and reflective. Conversely, the protégé who does not have a mentoring mindset lacks initiative, lacks a learning orientation, a goal orientation, and is not relational or reflective.

One limitation of the study is that it only gathered the perceptions of the mentor, but the protégé is the one being described. This, however, is consistent with other studies of protégé competencies. The study was conducted with a specific population (school principals) in a southern state of the USA. Hence, it cannot be assumed to be generalizable to other populations or fields of study. Replication of this research in other settings is suggested, so that the Framework can be further affirmed, disconfirmed, or augmented. Implications of this research could be that the Mentoring Mindset Framework can be used for considering the varied competencies of the protégé, and can be used in both mentor and protégé training.

To this researcher's knowledge, there has not been a Protégé Mentoring Mindset Framework of competencies created in mentoring research.

Organizations have become increasingly interested in developing their human resources. One tool that has been explored in this quest is mentoring. This has led to a surge in mentoring research and an increase in the number of formal mentoring programs implemented in organizations. This review provides a survey of the empirical work on mentoring that is organized around the major questions that have been investigated. Then a conceptual model, focused on formal mentoring relationships, is developed to help understand the mentoring process. The model draws upon research from a diverse body of literature, including interpersonal relationships, career success, training and development, and informal mentoring. Finally, a discussion of critical next steps for research in the mentoring domain is presented.

Sending key managers on foreign assignments is common practice for multinational and international firms. Although firms spend considerable resources to support expatriates, the return they receive remains disappointing. Current research suggests that expatriates are very likely to cut short their visit, and/or return to dissatisfying careers. Effective mentoring promises to remedy some of these problems, yet few firms seem to implement the mentor concept in practice. Based on depth‐interviews of expatriates, we delineate the mentor’s role both in the home and host office. We also develop a checklist of activities for home‐office mentors.

This chapter dwells upon reverse mentoring as a specific kind of mentoring practice. This chapter draws upon a consulting assignment on reverse mentoring at a global metal company in India. Presented in the form of a case study, this chapter highlights the possible conditions under which reverse mentoring becomes a strategic HR initiative in an organization. It does this by drawing attention to various contextual dimensions such as organizational culture of the firm, the socio-cultural and economic context of the firm. After describing the process of setting up a reverse mentoring program, it also suggests the manner in which reverse mentoring addresses some of concerns arising from such a context, as well as the manner in which efficacy of the practice is likely to be impacted by those conditions such as high power distance.

This chapter describes an eMentor program used as a cocurricular professional development activity for accounting majors at a university that is located in a relatively small city, geographically distant from the primary location of its major recruiters. The key element of the program is the use of e-mail as a communication channel to link students in our accounting program with accounting and business professionals. We provide information regarding our eMentor program's mission and objectives, recruiting professionals and students to participate, and an examination of data collected to evaluate the program. In addition, we identify the topics discussed during the interactions between professional mentors and students. Finally, we provide insights based on our experiences on running a successful eMentor program.

Results indicate that the program is an overall success since a high proportion of students and professionals agree/strongly agree that the program meets its mission and objectives, and virtually all of the professionals agree/strongly agree that the program is a worthwhile use of their time. Most student–mentor pairs have had several e-mail contacts and at least one phone contact, with a majority of students initiating some contact. The topics discussed most frequently centered on college curriculum choices and professional career path options, including the benefits of internships and externships.

This paper aims to determine the impact of mentorship on the development of self-directedness among beginner teachers in their initial years of teaching.

The researcher adopted a positivist paradigm to explore the situation of concern. Quantitative research was conducted, involving the collection and analysis of numerical data. Two closed-ended structured questionnaires were utilised, derived from the 40-item self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) developed by Fisher and King, and a pre-determined questionnaire by Glazerman focused on the first-year teaching experience, induction and mentoring of beginner teachers.

Beginner teachers merely relying on the knowledge obtained from their studies is insufficient to achieve a satisfactory level of self-directedness when starting a teaching career. Most beginner teachers faced significant challenges in their early years of teaching due to the absence of mentoring support. In addition, most indicated that they resume their teaching duties and rely on their district for general support, guidance and orientation. Finally, the results have shown that mentoring positively impacts beginner teachers’ self-directedness.

The first limitation was that this study was narrowed to one South Africa University part-time B.Ed honours students working as beginner teachers in different provinces at primary and secondary schools. As a result, the findings of this research might be interpreted by some critics as one-sided and not representative of the views of most beginner teachers in South Africa who are working. The second limitation of this study is the sample size. In this study, 222 responses were received. As a result, the findings of this research might be considered not representative of the target sample size.

The presence and effective implementation of mentoring programmes in schools can positively impact beginner teachers' professional development and retention during their first years of teaching.

We contend that our research holds significance for international readership as it aims to garner attention towards potential research endeavours in diverse settings concerning mentorship programs for beginner teachers, specifically promoting self-directed learning. Our research offers opportunities to compare our findings with studies conducted in more comprehensive, comparative contexts and foster research possibilities in broader, contrasting contexts.

Based on the findings of this research, the availability and effective use of mentoring programmes would significantly affect beginner teachers' self-directedness, improve their retention rate and alleviate their teaching challenges. This study was the first research on the perceptions of the influence of mentoring on the self-directedness of beginner teachers.