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The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes of a formal university mentorship program that paired junior and senior (third and fourth year) undergraduate student mentees with mentors from industry. Specifically, the researchers examined the effects of mentorship on mentees’ psychological sense of community at the university, and job search self-efficacy (confidence).

The researchers used a mixed-methods design that incorporated survey data and qualitative data from interviews and focus groups. Where relevant, mentees were compared to a control group of students who did not participate in the mentorship program.

The results demonstrate that the mentees accrued several benefits from participating in the mentorship program. For mentees (but not the control group), job search self-efficacy increased over time as a result of participating in the program. Mentees valued receiving practical career-related support such as opportunities for networking, resume development and job interviewing skills. Mentees also gained a more realistic view about the workplace and their potential career options, and received important psychosocial support from their mentor.

Results suggest that junior and senior undergraduate student mentees gained professional and career-related benefits including increased job search self-efficacy from participation in a mentorship program that paired them with mentors from industry. In addition, the qualitative results indicate that mentees reported psychosocial benefits including an increased sense of connection to the university. Altogether, results indicate that undergraduate students experience positive outcomes from participating in mentorship programs designed to prepare them for the transition from university to the workplace.

The paper explores the prevalence of mentorship opportunities for women police officers, the nature of mentorship relationships, and their perceived effect on women’s career advancement.

Data consist of online surveys (N = 924) with women police officers working in the United States. A content analysis of emergent themes from one open ended survey question was conducted.

Findings underscore the central importance of mentorship in policing, the lack of mentorship among women due to in-group competition, and participants’ active participation in mentoring future generations of women officers.

Factors contributing to the lack of gender diversity and specifically the retention of women in policing, are not well understood. The underrepresentation of women in coveted specialty assignments and upper ranking positions is also of concern. A possible explanation is that women officers lack role models and networking opportunities that are more readily available to men in this male-dominated field, which could encourage women to remain in law enforcement and assist in their career advancement. As many agencies have or are beginning to establish mentorship programs for women, research focused on the need for and effectiveness of mentorship for women officers is needed.

In all, 218 business/psychology working students contributed to the validation of the 20-item Mentor Expectations Measure (MEM). Mentors expected outcomes of mentoring protégés based on protégé race and mentors’ level of social dominance orientation (SDO) were established. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Study 1: to better understand the structure of the newly created MEM, (and to take the first step toward establishing a model) the authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis, using principle axis factoring procedure for extraction with direct oblimin rotation. The factor analysis yielded four viable factors. Study 2: participants were the same 218 working undergraduate students from a mid-sized university located on the west coast of the USA. SDO and social desirability were collected and survey participants were presented a stimulus story written so that the reader would take on the perspective of a mentor within a formal organizational mentorship program. Participants were randomly assigned stories in which they, as the mentor, receive a new protégé (the manipulated variable – perceived ethnicity). Other than the names of the protégés, the stimulus stories and questionnaires were exactly the same. The survey consisted of 63 questions in total.

Given evidence of discriminatory behavior toward those that threaten hierarchical norms, the authors anticipated worse expectations for the mentorship to be found in the African American protégé manipulation. Based on the literature, the authors also anticipated stronger interactions between SDO and the mentorship expectations based on the discipline of the mentor. Participant-mentors estimated expected mentor outcome rewards from mentoring a Black or White protégé. No interactions were established, but SDO was a significant predictor of lessened expectations across several elements of the mentorship. This suggests that high levels of SDO in workplace hierarchies manifest poor expectations toward mentorship outcomes no matter the race/ethnicity or disciplinary back ground of the mentor.

While the subjects in the study represent realistic entry level managers and the sample size is acceptable, the authors would like to replicate using larger sample sizes in the future.

The development of the MEM reflects a step forward in the psychometric matching of mentors with protégé. The authors recommend utilizing the MEM to evaluate mentors before establishing a relationship and making sure that the relationship is based on clear expectations, knowledge and balanced interpersonal relationships. Importantly, understanding the impact of individual differences like SDO will facilitate more productive relationships than matching on just ethnic and gender-based commonality.

As significant negative correlations (at the 0.01 level) were found between SDO and mentor commitment, mentor tangible rewards, as well as mentor intrinsic rewards. The negative relationships suggests that as SDO levels increase, participants level of commitment to the protégé lessens, their expectation of tangible rewards based on the mentor ship lessen, and their own levels of intrinsic rewards will diminish. This paints a picture of low expectations for the protégé based on one’s level of SDO, which surprisingly does not seem to interact with race of protégé.

First, the MEM can facilitate the matching of mentors and protégés’. Second, researchers (Klauss, 1981; Kram, 1985) have pointed out that formal mentorship relationships may suffer due to the lack of initiative and commitment which the MEM clarifies. Third, the MEM can be used to examine and existing mentorship relations. Fourth, established use of the MEM or mentorship assessment would signal a “culture of mentoring, with organizations broadcasting the seriousness with which they take mentorship. Finally, the authors establish the impact of SDO on mixed race mentorships.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how doctoral students experienced mentorship in their supervision context and how the mentorship they received impacted their well-being.

An interpretive phenomenological methodology was selected to frame the research design. This research approach seeks to study the individual lived experience by exploring, describing and analyzing its meaning.

The findings revealed three different quality levels of mentorship in this context authentic mentorship, average mentorship and below average/toxic mentorship. Doctoral students who enjoyed authentic mentorship experiences were more motivated and satisfied, students who reported average mentorships needed more attention and time from their supervisors, and students who had below average/toxic mentorships were stressed out and depleted.

A limitation of this study is the lack of generalizability owing to the small sample size typical in qualitative studies. Another limitation is that this research did not include students who quit their programs because of dysfunctional supervision experiences.

Students and supervisors can use the findings to reflect on their beliefs and practices to evaluate and improve their performances. Also, authentic mentors can benefit from the findings to create a positive culture for all students to receive support. Finally, current supervisory policies can be reviewed in light of this paper’s findings.

The findings show the nature of mentorship in an authoritative context, and how it can be toxic when power is misused.

This study provides new knowledge in relation to the different types of mentorship experiences that exist in doctoral supervision, and how each type can influence students’ well-being differently. Additionally, it reveals that doctoral students can graduate, even in the face of toxic mentorship, but at the expense of their well-being.

Mentoring can be an important source of support, particularly for those who are in the early stages of their career in academia. Drawing upon data from a larger study, the authors investigated opportunities for mentorship, factors that hinder or support mentorship and the value of mentorship from the perspective of early career academics (ECAs).

Using a mixed-methods approach and social identity theory, the authors collected data via a survey and follow-up interviews with members of staff at the Open University, of which 19 ECA experiences were contrasted with 17 academics who received mentorship but were not early career.

ECAs and non-ECAs had equal access to mentoring, but mentoring seemed to be more visible and accessible to ECAs. Factors deemed to support mentorship included mentors having empathy and confidentiality. Mentorship was valued by ECAs because it helped to provide them with support that was in addition to their line management and to help them make sense of “being an academic”. From the data presented, mentorship supported ECAs in their academic career and identity development in higher education.

This research provides a mixed-methods approach to investigating early career mentoring within the context of a higher education institution in the United Kingdom. It considers the topic of mentoring of both junior and more senior staff who are often working at a distance to the institutional setting and provides a theoretical perspective in terms of social identity for academics.

This paper aims to present a thematic analysis investigating the experiences and reflections of doctoral students in social work at a Canadian university who were mentored in the development of teaching expertise, including course design, delivery and evaluation, by a senior faculty member. Recommendations to others who are considering engaging in doctoral student teaching mentorship are presented.

The paper examines the authors’ reflections on their experiences of doctoral student mentorship through their involvement in collaboratively designing, teaching and evaluating an online undergraduate course. The inquiry used a qualitative approach grounded in Schon’s concept of reflexive learning.

Based on the results of the thematic analysis of the mentees’ reflections, this paper presents the collaborative teaching mentorship model and discusses how receiving mentorship in teaching facilitated the mentees’ development as social work educators.

Although quality guidelines in social work education recommend that doctoral students should be adequately prepared for future teaching opportunities, there is limited discussion about doctoral student development as educators within the academic literature, especially from the perspective of doctoral students. There is also limited articulation of specific models of doctoral student mentorship in developing teaching expertise. The authors hope that sharing their reflections on their experiences and describing the collaborative teaching mentorship model will serve to deepen understandings and promote further exploration and development of doctoral student mentorship in teaching.

This paper aims to introduce the concept of ETHICOMP as “community mentor” – the role that the ETHICOMP conference plays outside the standard conference fare, in which it nurtures and supports up-and-coming researchers in the field of computer ethics.

This paper uses an auto-ethnographic methodology to reflexively explore the author’s career from PhD student to early career researcher spanning the years 2005-2013, and how the ETHICOMP community has played a significant role as a mentor in her life. The literature on mentorship is discussed, particularly focussing on the importance of mentorship for women in philosophy-related academic careers, and criteria for successful mentorship are measured against the ETHICOMP “community mentorship”. Additionally, some key philosophical concepts are introduced and reflected upon.

The paper produces recommendations for other philosophical communities wishing to grow their mentorship capabilities through communities around conferences.

This paper sheds new light on the concepts of mentorship and the practical application of mentorship within an academic community. It also provides an account of the value of the ETHICOMP conference series that is beyond the usual academic output.

The purpose of this study is to investigate mentorship practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and to consider how mentorship could be improved to support students of educational leadership (EDLE) during crises.

Participants in this collective self-study were four faculty members (i.e. the authors) within an EDLE program in one public, research-intensive university in the southern USA. Data sources were memos, email correspondence, reflective dialogue, course evaluations and meeting notes. Analysis involved dialogic engagement among the research team to identify emergent themes.

Analysis revealed five themes that reflect our collective experiences as mentors during the pandemic. These themes were challenges created by dismantled systems; meeting students' needs for understanding, flexibility and meaningful learning experiences; evolving personal–professional boundaries; grappling with our own sense-making and well-beingness; and clarifying values and priorities.

The pandemic exemplifies the need for a deeper conceptualization of mentorship that stimulates more intimate, compassionate relationships between mentors and mentees. When mentorship is grounded in compassion, intimacy and mutual vulnerability, it demonstrates a genuine ethic of care and concern for others that is supportive of well-being and serves as a model for mentees entering the profession.

This paper extends disciplinary knowledge by focusing on the mentorship of EDLE students during crises and provides insights on how mentorship could be enacted to mutually support mentor–mentee well-being.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential benefits of a virtual mentorship between teacher candidates and practising teachers. Specifically, the research aimed to determine whether candidates felt they had increased their professional learning and prepared for the realities of the job early in their training program as a means to enhance their well-being.

A systemized, virtual mentorship network was set up and a qualitative mixed-methods study was conducted with two separate groups of 77 students total consisting over a three-month course in two consecutive years. Three data sets were collected; this paper reports on one set – qualitative self-reports from mentee participants.

The response from preservice teacher participants was, through qualitative self-reports, an overwhelmingly positive. After engaging in a guided virtual mentorship with an experienced teacher, they felt more prepared, more confident and more supported. Response from the preservice teacher participants provided evidence and confirmed a sense of improved educational preparedness for teaching by engaging in a guided virtual mentorship partnership with an experienced teacher.

Virtual mentorships are highly beneficial for teacher candidates’ learning and professional growth; the relationships positively impact preservice teachers’ level of preparedness for the profession, which can lead to increased confidence and contribute to a positive sense of well-being. In addition, the virtual approach eliminates many of the access barriers that limit the efficacy of traditional, face-to-face mentorships. In doing so, the virtual format makes mentorships a possibility in any teacher preparatory education program, with endless opportunities to connect teachers across the world.

In an effort to better prepare quality teachers, a virtual mentorship program, embedded in teacher education programs, is a viable solution for shaping preservice teachers learning in the early stages of their careers, establishing a commitment to professional learning and mitigating teacher attrition rates and burnout by enhancing well-being. For these reasons, the authors believe virtual mentorships can be considered to be used as a framework for the future.

Mentorship is crucial to the success and accomplishment of librarianship in the contemporary era. This paper aims to investigate the need for mentorship and challenges besetting mentorship in librarianship with specific focus on academic libraries.

Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 1,214 librarians in 102 academic libraries in Southern Nigeria. Total enumeration sampling technique was adopted for the study.

It was reflected that mentorship, though beset by a number of challenges, is a necessity in librarianship. The hypotheses tested revealed that there is significant relationship between the need for mentorship and the types of mentorship adopted in academic libraries, and that there is no significant difference between the need for mentorship by male and female librarians.

This study affirmed that it is through mentorship that librarians can meet their job demands. Mentorship should therefore be stimulated to bolster the professional and intellectual development of the librarians. The mentees should be carried along in mentorship partnership selection process, and training should be organized for mentors and mentees on mentorship.

The interaction of librarians in the course of mentoring can facilitate work cohesion and enhanced job performance.

The needs for and challenges besetting mentorship in librarianship have been explored by collecting data directly from the librarians. The cloistered nature of librarianship, given the changing nature of the profession owing to massive deployment of Information and Communication Technology in the performance of library operations, means that mentorship should be encouraged in the profession.