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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate two coaching and mentoring programmes focused on the ever-increasingly important aim of enhancing the chances of professional level employment for undergraduate students, at two UK universities. In addition, to offer recommendations to enhance coaching and mentoring success within higher education (HE).

Two similar programmes are compared; the first study is a coaching programme delivered in two phases involving over 1,500 students within the business school. The second study is a mentoring programme involving over 250 students over a ten-year period within the business school at a different institution.

The two programmes have been compared against the key success criteria from the literature, endorsed by coaching and mentoring experts. The results highlight the importance of integrating with other initiatives, senior management commitment, budget, an application process, clear matching process, trained coaches and mentors, induction for both parties, supportive material, ongoing supervision and robust evaluation and record keeping.

The research focuses on two similar institutions, with comparable student demographics. It would have been useful to dig deeper into the effect of the diverse characteristics of coach/mentor and coachee/mentee on the effectiveness of their relationships. In addition, to test the assumptions and recommendations beyond these two institutions, and to validate the reach and application of these best practice recommendations further afield.

The results identify a number of best practice recommendations to guide HE institutions when offering coaching and mentoring interventions to support career progression of their students.

There are limited comparison studies between universities with undergraduate career-related coaching and mentoring programmes and limited research offering best practice recommendations for coaching and mentoring programmes in HE. The top ten factors offered here to take away will add value to those thinking of running similar programmes within HE.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the practice of mentoring and coaching in the Singapore education system, to show the difference in philosophy in which these two concepts have been applied and to discuss the issues and challenges involved in their implementation.

This paper reviews the mentoring and coaching systems in Singapore through literature review and a critical analysis of the mentoring and coaching philosophies and schemes for the different levels of educators.

This paper shows that mentoring and coaching are implemented in many areas of the professional development of educators in Singapore. These include mentoring for trainee teachers, beginning teachers, training school leaders and beginning school leaders; and coaching in the performance management system of all teachers and school leaders. However, there are inherent tensions in having an appraisal connotation in some mentoring and coaching platforms in Singapore and in encouraging critical reflective learning and innovation in mentoring and coaching.

As this paper is based on literature review and analysis, it recommends empirical research around mentoring and coaching in Singapore. In particular, it recommends research in examining the impact of particular mentoring and coaching schemes within different contexts and the experiences of the participants in such schemes. It also recommends research to address the questions of whether there will be enough coaches and mentors to meet the emerging demand for mentoring and coaching in schools, as they struggle with their multiple roles in school; and whether the mentoring and coaching system in Singapore is too formalized to encourage innovation.

This paper encourages practitioners to reflect on the inherent tensions in having an appraisal connotation in some mentoring and coaching platforms in Singapore and to embrace critical reflective learning and innovation in mentoring and coaching.

This paper is one of the few papers (and the most current) that review the mentoring and coaching systems in Singapore. It forms a basis for future empirical research in this area.

The purpose of this editorial is to introduce the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education (IJMCE), as well as to set the scene for the current and future issues of the journal.

This editorial simply introduces the journal and its first issue. The paper sets the scene by which the journal was conceived and the context in which it aims to operate. It then move on to briefly describe the visions of IJMCE, the theories and practices of mentoring and coaching and the definitions and implications that the journal will have for policy makers.

It is found that IJMCE will offer diverse definitions of mentoring and coaching in the course of publishing three issues per year, each comprising five articles.

The editorial introduces five original manuscripts from several authors who have undertaken some brilliant research, which contributes greatly to the mentoring and coaching community.

The purpose of this paper is to explore why mentoring is preferred over coaching when supporting pre-service teachers, compared with other stages in a teacher’s career where coaching is more readily available.

The paper first draws upon pre-existing literature which addresses the ways in which mentoring is used for pre-service teachers; followed by a discussion of the place and use of coaching within education. It then focuses on data generated from interviews with senior teachers responsible for the induction of pre-service teachers within three UK-based secondary schools and compares this to findings about mentor and coach approaches used in other sectors or contexts.

Findings point towards an imbalance in the use of mentoring and coaching within education, with a particular underuse of coaching for pre-service teachers. Some mentoring (and indeed coaching) interventions are founded on a deficit model; therefore mentors of pre-service teachers could be helped and supported to make greater use of a mentor-coach integrated asset-based approach, which encourages the use of reflection and self-directed learning.

Schools using internal mentors for pre-service teachers, or internal coaches for post-qualified teachers, could benefit from understanding what a mentor-coach integrated approach might look like, founded on an asset-based model.

The literature is limited with regards to the use of coaching for pre-service teachers. This paper examines the use of mentoring and coaching within schools in a more balanced way; questioning the underlying beliefs about the purpose of mentoring and coaching and whether or not these are based on deficit or asset-based models.

This article aims to propose a three‐stage framework for on‐going professional development of aspirant and incumbent heads that is designed to increase their own self‐efficacy. It is suggested that continuity and progression in self‐efficacy development can be addressed via processes pertaining to acculturation, assimilation and actualisation. The on‐going work of Fletcher augments this conceptual framework with a new approach to action research ensuring an evidence‐based foundation to the growth of self‐efficacy.

The article offers an analysis of existing research evidence in coaching, mentoring, talent management, leadership development and self‐efficacy to propose a framework useful in research and in the development of self‐efficacy that may help secure transition between the potential to lead and high performance in leadership incumbency in schools.

The article points to the importance of coaching and mentoring as potential scaffolds to create an appreciation of self‐efficacy's value at all stages of the headship journey. It is suggested that active development of individual's self‐efficacy through mentoring and coaching relationships may serve to ensure that the loss of human potential of those who could lead but never completed the journey is reduced.

The article identifies new questions pertaining to the practice of high quality coaching and mentoring in the journey to leadership in schools and raises further questions pertaining to the conceptualisation of learning relationships and the interactions and feelings involved in such learning relationships.

This article suggests a phased approach, an integrated vision of mentoring and coaching for headteacher development that can span their professional lifetime. This generative approach is what distinguishes the authors’ proposal from others. An emphasis is placed on self‐study integrated in an Appreciative Inquiry approach, however, the authors’ proposal goes further in that they have realised that aspirant headteachers should be taught how to undertake self study integrated with action research not only for their own benefit as they journey towards incumbency but also so that they can become coach and mentor for others; for their staff, pupils and other aspirant headteachers.

David Megginson is Visiting Professor of HRD at Sheffield Hallam University and founder of the Mentoring and Coaching Research Unit in the University. He has written and researched extensively about coaching, mentoring and other topics. Two books, Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring, and Creating a Coaching Culture (written jointly with David Clutterbuck) are to be published shortly. Two further books, Mentoring in Action and Mentoring Executives and Directors, have also been written with David Clutterbuck. The two Davids founded the European Mentoring and Coaching Council in 1992, and David Megginson now co‐chairs it, with Sir John Whitmore. He is also Chairman of strategy consultancy The idm Group, and an executive coach. Here he answers questions about his work.

Teacher residency programs (TRPs) offer an alternative to traditional models of teacher preparation with the aim of developing teachers to work and stay in hard-to-staff schools. Research on these extended field placement programs is limited and typically examines program outcomes or the experiences and development of the pre-service teachers, or residents. This study focuses on a relatively unexamined area of TRPs to explore how providing mentoring and coaching supports the professional development of the in-service TRP coaches.

This study employed a qualitative case study design. Fourteen coaches in an urban teacher residency program were interviewed over a three-year period. Using a semi-structured protocol, participants’ experiences and the influence of program participation were explored.

Findings revealed that coaches experienced professional growth in their instructional practices and deepened or renewed their commitment to teaching. Program components such as evidence-based observational tools and protocols encouraged reflective practice and (re)evaluation of teaching that contributed to beliefs about improved practice.

In-service teachers experience development in their pedagogical practices and may feel a renewed sense of professional engagement through serving as a coach for a pre-service teacher. Additionally, hard-to-staff schools that partner with TRPs to recruit and develop new teachers may find an added benefit in retaining a greater number of veteran teachers who participate as coaches in residency pre-service education programs.

Much of the teacher residency literature explores the outcomes and experiences of pre-service teacher residents and has little focus on how these programs may benefit TRP coaches. Coaches have an essential role in the implementation and influence of residency programs on pre-service teachers, yet little is understood about how the act of coaching impacts the in-service teacher coach. This article suggests that coaches experience meaningful professional benefits of participation in TRPs and has implications for effective residency program design.

Mentoring is more and more studied by researchers on account of its professional and personal impact on mentees. This contribution has two main objectives. First, to empirically validate the benefits for the mentor and to test links between mentoring activities and benefits through a multidimensional analysis. Second, to incorporate two variables structuring the relationship into the analysis: the formal vs informal nature of the mentoring relationship and the gender composition of the dyad. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In total, 161 French managers have been surveyed.

The results show that mentors value the personal dimension of the relationship more than the professional dimension. Moreover, informal mentoring favours the perception of a rewarding experience by the mentor, whereas formal mentoring is synonymous with improved professional performance. This research calls into question the advantage of same-sex dyads, suggesting that heterogeneity favours improved performance.

The originality of the paper was to focus on the homogeneity of the mentor-protégé dyad in terms of gender.

This study explores how career training with mentoring (CTM) programs work in Nigerian higher education (HE) institutions to foster students' career development and employability of graduates. It also explores how Nigerian HE curriculum can be adequately used to facilitate CTM as well as possible constraints to effective implementation of CTM programs in Nigerian HE institutions.

The study draws on interviews with well-qualified and experienced experts from six Nigerian public universities (each from the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria), and 20 industries also within the same 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria that were selected for this study using a purposeful sampling technique. The study interviewed 33 experts comprising 21 senior academics at Nigerian universities and 12 industry executives to reveal substantial information about CTM programs in Nigerian HE institutions.

Drawing on the three key themes that emerged during the thematic analysis and linked to social cognitive career theory, it is clear that participants are convinced that CTM can enhance clarity about students' career ambitions, career interests, personal development plans and employability. Findings show that there are some career-related programs or activities that Nigerian HE students are presented with, but the programs have not been effective as to offer graduates quality career guidance and employability skills that employers demand. Acknowledging these, participants recommend establishing CTM centres in all Nigerian HE institutions to provide students with the opportunity to receive quality career advice, coaching and mentoring services while schooling.

The findings of this study shed light on varying resources required to cope with the demands of labour market in terms of supply of competent workforce that can contribute to Nigeria's economic growth and development. The findings are highly relevant for Nigeria and other developing countries' policy and research initiatives that aim to promote social inclusion and equity and improve better working conditions for all. The findings also have implications for career development and employability of HE graduates in developing world context.

Understanding the role that CTM programs can play in facilitating career development and graduate employability can arguably be of importance within the developing world context. This study, therefore, provides significant suggestions on how to build sustained HEIs and labour market partnership to foster career development and employability of HE graduates through establishing CTM centres in every Nigerian HE institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an initial year of mentoring and induction provided to new assistant principals (APs) served by the Kansas Educational Leadership Institute (KELI) and to identify program characteristics that support leadership development for first year APs.

The current research utilized surveys and interviews for data collection. The participants included 12 new AP mentees and five mentors currently participating in the KELI program. Two comparable questionnaires are designed to examine perceptions of both groups on the effectiveness of the program in general, mentoring/induction approaches used, and the appropriateness of the intensity of engagement required. The semi-structured interviews provide contextualized understanding of the same aspects examined in the surveys.

The findings reveal that mentees found mentoring/induction experiences with KELI highly valuable. The mentor-mentee matching mechanism together with other structured components in the KELI program such as mentor coaching training and multiple professional learning opportunities was instrumental for promoting a trustful relationship, reciprocal learning, and personalized and growth-based assistance that are key to successful mentoring/induction experiences.

The study findings will inform the research-based requirements in KELI’s model and further define effective components in serving the unique and varied responsibilities inherent in the AP position.

There is a need to identify elements in effective mentoring and induction support for new APs and to encapsulate best practices to further develop skills and dispositions for this important leadership position.