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The purpose of this study was to make sense of the individual perspectives of former undergraduate student mentors from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields who took part in an after-school STEM mentoring program. The study examined the following research questions: (1) How do former undergraduate student STEM mentors interpret and give meaning to their after-school STEM mentoring experiences? (2) In what way can an after-school STEM mentoring experience lead to a deeper understanding of the long-term implications of a STEM mentorship program?

The sample comprised 21 former undergraduate STEM mentors. The study was guided by the methods of content analysis and repertory grid (RepGrid), with data collected via highly structured interviews. Eight elements were pre-selected for the RepGrid to elicit constructs from participants. These include (1) mentoring, (2) teaching, (3) research, (4) career, (5) workforce, (6) Nebraska STEM for you (NE STEM 4U), (7) networking, and (8) communication. The researcher employed content analysis for cross-case analysis and used interpretative clustering to analyze nuanced similarities and differences among participants. Personal construct theory was used to understand how former STEM mentors made sense of their experiences.

The results highlight the diversity of viewpoints among participants, as well as their connections to various career paths, communication strategies, and mentorship styles. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of how STEM mentorship experiences can be tailored to the experiences of mentees. The study stresses the significance of clear communication in STEM and advises professionals to avoid excessive technical jargon to convey complex ideas. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the motivations, perspectives, and benefits of former undergraduate mentors. Ultimately, recognizing how these factors impact STEM mentoring programs is vital for the long-term success and advancement of the STEM pipeline.

The study has several limitations, including the inclusion of participants lacking knowledge or experience with the eight elements used in the RepGrids. While participants had completed a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field, not all had pursued advanced schooling or careers that required knowledge or implementation of research.

Findings underscore the importance of acknowledging the diverse career paths within STEM fields to understand participants’ perspectives toward mentorship. Considering the incorporation of STEM mentorship within regular school hours and making it a graduation prerequisite could enhance student participation and advancement. Integrating STEM outreach programs into higher education curricula could facilitate the development of essential professional skills (e.g. critical thinking, problem-solving) among STEM undergraduate students. These implications highlight the importance of diverse mentorship styles and professional skills to foster a more inclusive STEM workforce.

The study focused on the individual perspectives of participants rather than employing a thematic analysis.

The international mentoring literature predominantly features traditional company-assigned expatriates as protégés overlooking other types of global talent, such as immigrants, refugees, and international graduates, who may help organizations gain long-term IHRM competitive advantages. We integrate multidisciplinary research to better understand the role of mentoring as a global talent management tool, identify research gaps, and propose future research directions.

We draw on an integrative review of 71 academic journal articles published between 1999 and 2024 to explore the role of mentoring in managing global talent (i.e. expatriates, immigrants, refugees, and international students and graduates).

We found that research has identified and examined relationships between various antecedents and outcomes of mentoring but mainly treating mentoring as a talent development tool. Less is known about the role of mentoring as a recruitment and selection tool in the pre-employment context. Mentoring is an important HRM tool that contributes to managing a global talent pool and developing existing employees.

The review contributes to a better understanding of the characteristics and processes involved in mentoring in a global context by proposing a framework that incorporates antecedents of mentoring, characteristics of the mentoring process, and mentoring outcomes. It highlights the value of mentoring as a recruitment and selection tool supporting global talent management and identifies avenues for future research.

In this study, students’ perceptions of the effective practices of their research mentors were examined. The research mentors implemented the practices informed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) mentorship competencies to mentor underrepresented students in engineering education research in a virtual environment.

This research experience for undergraduates (REU) program, situated in the United States of America, consisted of undergraduate students (i.e. mentees), graduate students and faculty mentors who all had at least one underrepresented identity in engineering (i.e. Black, Latiné/x, and/or women). Using qualitative methods, we used data from reflection surveys and follow-up interviews with REU mentees to understand the outcomes of the mentorship strategies employed by the mentors in the program. The data were analyzed thematically using CIMER model constructs and social capital theory as guiding frameworks.

The results indicated the identified strategies students perceived as the most impactful for mentorship throughout the program. Students in the REU gained knowledge on how to activate social capital in mentorship relationships and how to better mentor others.

The findings provide insight on how to operationalize the CIMER mentorship competencies to skillfully mentor underrepresented students in engineering. Given the size of the REU and the nature of qualitative research, the sample size was limited.

The results help inform mentorship practices for underrepresented individuals in engineering education and the workforce. Further, they add to the practical knowledge of implementing CIMER best practices virtually, at a time when the world has transitioned to more hybrid and virtual working and learning environments.

This study identifies impactful strategies for operationalizing mentorship strategies informed by theory- and evidence-based CIMER mentorship competencies. In addition, this study extends knowledge about how to implement mentoring best practices and engage mentorship in a virtual environment.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the existing literature on the importance of mentorship in academia, particularly in higher education. Specifically, this study aims to address the research gap related to academic mentorship from a gendered perspective. The Productive Mentoring Framework and relational–cultural theory theoretically support this study.

In this qualitative descriptive study, purposive sampling was used to recruit 19 participants for semi-structured interviews and a focus group. Two research questions guided this study: (1) How do individuals who identify as women describe the importance of mentorship in academia? (2) How do individuals who identify as women describe mentorship in academia from a gendered perspective? Using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, a total of six themes emerged, with three themes identified for each of the two research questions from the data: (a) guidance and support, (b) personal and professional development, (c) inclusive and accountable relationships, (d) empathetic and supportive mentorship, (e) interpersonal connectivity and (f) gender empowerment and advocacy.

The research findings suggest that the participants held perceptions of gender disparity within academia. Additionally, empowering interpersonal relationships with other women and supportive environments were crucial in overcoming challenges and developing personally and professionally in higher education institutions. Future research is recommended to explore the perspectives of women supporting women and the perception of gender disparity in academia.

While successfully addressing the research questions, this study has limitations. One limitation was that this study had a relatively small sample size of participants who identified as women, which limited the focus of this research. Another limitation was that interview and focus group participants did not mention working with mentors who fall outside the traditional binary of male and female. Finally, limitations can occur in qualitative research as there is potential bias in the data analysis process. However, member-checking and codebook verification were utilized to minimize this constraint.

There are practical implications from the research for mentoring practices in academia. Since the results indicated benefits to women, institutions could prioritize mentoring programs, especially pairing same-gender mentors and mentees. This helps new employees navigate academia. Mentoring fosters interpersonal connectivity, improving academic culture. By supporting mentoring relationships and professional friendships, leaders positively impact dynamics within institutions. Gender disparities and systemic barriers call for advocacy within higher education. Mentor training programs should address these issues, providing a platform for solutions. Administrators' awareness may support efforts to improve equity.

The study is original in its focus on academic mentorship from a gendered perspective, as described by women in academia, notably higher education.

The paucity of artisans in some construction trades and the transitioning of the experience of the few for sustainability calls for concern. Mentorship programmes offer a promising mechanism to support construction artisans through those transitions. Mentorship may enhance artisan decent work and economic growth, like increased income for artisans. This is part of Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Goal 8). Hence, this study aims to investigate issues hindering construction artisan skills growth and suggest measures to improve construction artisan skills through mentorship mechanisms to achieve Goal 8.

The study adopted a qualitative approach and collected data via oral interviews with knowledgeable participants. The participants were consultant experts in mentorship and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) matters, construction organisation management staffers and construction artisans in the Nigerian construction industry. The study covered Lagos and Abuja and achieved saturation at the 30th interviewee. Also, the research utilised a thematic method to analyse the collated data.

Enhanced knowledge sharing accelerates junior artisans’ learning skills quickly, improving artisans’ performance, ensuring sustainability of the skills learned (knowledge retention), encouraging collaboration, building the next generation of leaders and transitioning of experience to mentees emerged as mentorship’s role in developing construction artisans’ skills. Findings show that mentorship mechanisms to develop construction artisan skills face encumbrances. The perceived 32 encumbrances were re-clustered into mentee, mentor and government-related encumbrances. Also, achieving Goal 8 regarding construction artisans may be threatened if these issues are not checked. Thus, the study recommended measures improving construction artisan skills through mentorship mechanisms to achieve Goal 8.

Identifying the major encumbrances facing construction artisan skills improvement through mentorship would be useful to advocate measures to improve construction artisan’s skills to achieve Goal 8.

Approaching mentoring from the theoretical tradition of continental pedagogy and contrasting it to the neoliberal organization of the academy, this paper aims to analyze how the Croatian higher education document framework constructs mentoring graduate and postgraduate students' research projects.

The analysis of 50 national- and university-level documents, which were coded using an adapted strategy described by Saldaña (2014), was guided by the following research questions. 1. Which elements of the mentor’s activity in guiding the research projects of graduate and postgraduate students are addressed by the relevant Croatian higher education documents? 2. Which elements of the graduate and postgraduate students’ activity in conducting research projects are addressed? 3. Which structural dimensions of mentoring these research projects are addressed?

The results point to the construction of mentoring as a pedagogical relationship based on guidance, support and dialog and also signal the processes of quantification of education and responsibilization of individuals.

The results can be used in the critical revision of the documents as well as in supporting mentors in their professional roles.

This is the first analysis of the Croatian higher education document framework focused on mentoring students’ research projects.

Reverse mentoring is gaining attention as a means to engage and retain young employees by facilitating the exchange of knowledge, ideas and perspectives with their senior counterparts (leaders). Despite its widespread recognition, there remains a significant scarcity of empirical evidence regarding its enablers and effectiveness. Building on this research gap, this study aims to investigate the association between leader humility, reverse mentoring and subordinate turnover intentions using the theoretical frameworks of job demand resource theory and social exchange theory. In addition, the study assesses how leader competence moderates the impact of leader humility on promoting reverse mentoring.

The study used time-lagged multi-wave data with a two-week interval between each wave, collected from 386 information technology professionals working in different organisations in India. The hypotheses developed were tested using partial least square structural equation modelling.

The finding from the analysis reveals that leader humility had a significant impact in promoting reverse mentoring, which consequently led to reduced subordinate turnover intentions. In addition, leader competence positively moderates the association between leader humility and reverse mentoring.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically examine the impact of reverse mentoring on subordinates’ turnover intentions, as well as the indirect effect of leader humility on turnover intention through reverse mentoring. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the previously under-researched boundary conditions of leader humility.

From a skills theory perspective, we explore the disparity between women's perceived leadership effectiveness and their underrepresentation in a public higher education institution (HEI) in Ghana. We identify the factors limiting women leaders' support and offer locally driven solutions.

A triangulated approach was used to analyse qualitative and quantitative data collected at a public HEI leadership workshop assessing perceptions of women leaders' education, communication, personality, emotional intelligence, skills and support dimensions. T-tests were used to test the perception variables, while thematic analysis elucidated factors contributing to women's underrepresentation in top positions.

The study found positive perceptions of female leadership, which differed among the genders, and the preference for female leaders stems from their perceived skills, abilities and education. However, religious and cultural beliefs perpetuate stereotypes that hinder women's advancement in leadership, which contradicts the skills-based approach to leadership.

Creating local awareness and support is necessary to reduce the fear of criticism and negative labelling from cultural beliefs hindering women from pursuing top leadership positions.

This study fills the literature gap on perceptions of women's leadership from a skills theory perspective. It contributes locally driven solutions to the challenges of underrepresentation of female leadership and women empowerment, providing local insights into female leadership effectiveness discourse.

As universities find new ways to implement professional development programmes (PDPs), very few scholarly studies have focused on how lifelong learning could serve as a tool to enhance the professional development of staff. To address this knowledge gap, this study aims to examine how the integration of lifelong learning modes into PDPs in a university setting in South Africa could enable professional staff to advance their knowledge and skills. Additionally, the study explores how the different PDPs could be conceptualised by way of lifelong learning to enhance the professional knowledge and competences of staff.

Data were gathered from 41 professional staff in three campuses of the university. The narrative data gathered were evaluated using thematic analysis that consisted of a detailed process of identifying, analysing, organising, describing and reporting the themes that were generated from the data.

Findings suggest that when the university integrates lifelong learning approaches into its professional development programmes, it allows staff to develop their knowledge and skills through diverse learning approaches. When institutions adopt these diverse learning approaches, it enable staff to situate their learning needs along the different lifelong learning modes, negotiate suitable learning modes and flexible schedules with their heads of department, and learn the accepted norms and values of the university. These findings among others lead to further questions about how PDPs could be designed using the three lifelong learning modes to enable staff to prepare adequately for the future of work in higher education.

This study contributes to the scholarly discourse on lifelong learning by showing how higher education institutions could design PDPs along formal, informal and non-formal learning approaches to enhance the knowledge and skills of staff.

Young graduates in Morocco are encountering an increasingly challenging labor market environment. Confronted with intense competition, job insecurity, and unclear career trajectories, many find themselves in low-skilled positions despite possessing relevant qualifications. This issue is particularly pronounced among vocational training graduates, who experience professional downgrading at a rate three times higher (33.6%) compared to their peers from general education (11.6%) (HCP, 2018). Our study aims to investigate professional downgrading among young vocational training graduates in Morocco, focusing on the factors contributing to this phenomenon and identifying potential solutions to address it.

Our study is based on the insertion and career path survey conducted by the Department of Professional Training with graduates of professional training programs in Morocco. For this edition, the survey was conducted in 2020, encompassing all 31,498 graduates of the 2016 professional training programs. The Heckman self-selection model is employed to analyze and explore various dimensions of downgrading. Factors such as gender, age, marital status, parental education, and the choice of vocational training field are scrutinized to understand their influence on downgrading.

The study reveals several key findings: Women exhibit a lower probability of professional downgrading compared to men. Young graduates are more vulnerable to downgrading, emphasizing the necessity for career guidance and mentorship programs to facilitate their entry into the job market. Marital status plays a role, with married individuals having a higher likelihood of downgrading. Parental education, particularly that of mothers, proves critical in preventing subjective downgrading of vocational training graduates, highlighting the need for adult literacy and education programs. The effectiveness of the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Competencies (ANAPEC) programs in preventing downgrading among vocational training graduates is questioned, suggesting the need for program revisions tailored to this population. The choice of vocational training field significantly impacts downgrading, with graduates of technical training programs experiencing advantages. This emphasizes the importance of diversifying training fields and aligning them with market demands.

This study provides valuable insights into the phenomenon of professional downgrading among young vocational training graduates in Morocco. The findings emphasize the need for targeted policy interventions. Recommendations include supporting young graduates, reassessing programs offered by the ANAPEC, and enhancing technical training to better align with the evolving demands of the labor market.