A Quantitative Analysis of a Customized Peer Mentoring Program with STEM Underrepresented Students

This article highlights a customized mentoring program that successfully supported underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at a university in the northeastern part of the United States (U.S.). Because of the national and regional needs to augment underrepresented, minority, first-generation, and low-income STEM college students, this study investigated efforts to expand the number and retain such population in higher education STEM programs through a customized mentoring program based on a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. In particular, we evaluated the necessity of strong and broad-based mentoring characteristics using assessment tools and surveys. The study was conducted with 34 participants in STEM fields. The participants’ motivation mean scores in STEM was measured at three different points in time (pre-, mid-, and end-year) and compared using descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results obtained indicated significant improvement in mentoring characteristics such as goal orientation, resource management, and academic performance with mean scores ranging from 4.99 to 5.21. Although additional findings from the repeated measures ANOVA showed no statistically significant differences, however, the marginal mean scores suggest the customized mentoring program had some positive effect and the mentoring practices supported underrepresented groups toward successful navigation of STEM disciplines. We discuss the study limitations, implications, and future research directions.

Mentoring characteristics and functions: mentoring’s influence on salespeople

PurposeThis paper aims to examine a longitudinal study of mentoring functions and their effect on salesperson attitudes and intentions.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a multi-year study of salespeople beginning when the salesperson entered the industry being examined.FindingsThe level of interaction between the mentor and protégé was found to be the only antecedent examined that related to the perceived quality of mentoring functions. Age, education and length of employment for both parties; the degree of age and education difference; and the length of the mentoring relationship were not significant. Successful mentoring appeared to be based heavily on a mentor’s willingness and ability to interact frequently with the protégé.Originality/valueThis study adds to the literature on mentoring, looking at mentoring in a sales context. Research examining mentoring in a sales setting is much more limited than in many other professions, so the findings represent a valuable addition to the sales mentoring literature. Its influence on sales socialization may be very important.

Who is your ideal mentor? An exploratory study of mentor prototypes

Purpose – One of the main aspects of a mentoring relationship involves the expectations that mentees have of an ideal mentor. However, the traits that mentees envision in an ideal mentor are unclear. The purpose of this paper is to present series of studies examined mentees’ ideas about their ideal mentor’s physical characteristics and mentoring functions. The authors also examined gender and racial (white/nonwhite) differences in ideal mentor preferences. Design/methodology/approach – The two studies examined what mentees envision when they picture their ideal mentor, and whether the ideal mentor prototypes varied by participants’ ethnicity and gender. Study 2 further examined mentees’ ideal mentor characteristics in a forced choice ranking scale and the ideal mentor scale (Rose, 2003). Findings – When asked to describe their ideal mentor’s appearance, participants provided detailed descriptions of the ideal mentor’s features. They also emphasized mentoring characteristics and behaviors, such as guidance. Participants’ preferences for their ideal mentor’s gender and race varied by the question format (open-ended description vs scale).When asked to envision their ideal mentor (Study 2), participants emphasized guidance, interpersonal warmth, and ethical integrity. Other mentoring characteristics and behaviors emerged in the content coding framework. Prototypes of the ideal mentors varied based on ethnicity and gender, but also on how the question was presented. Originality/value – These findings suggest that the ideal mentor prototype involves guidance, understanding, and role modeling ethical values. Like other organizational roles (i.e. leaders), awareness of these traits informs how employees view mentors and what they expect from mentoring relationships. Facilitators of mentoring programs can consider the ideal mentor prototype during the matching process and the initial stages of the mentoring relationship.