Meta-analysis was used to review and synthesize existing empirical research concerning the career benefits associated with mentoring for the protégé. Both objective (e.g., compensation) and subjective (e.g., career satisfaction) career outcomes were examined. Comparisons of mentored versus nonmemored groups were included, along with relationships between mentoring provided and outcomes. The findings were generally supportive of the benefits associated with mentoring, but effect sizes associated with objective outcomes were small. There was also some indication that the outcomes studied differed in the magnitude of their relationship with the type of mentoring provided (i.e. career or psychosocial).

Formal mentoring programs continue to gain popularity within organizations despite limited empirical research regarding how these programs should be designed to achieve maximum effectiveness. The present study examined perceived design features of formal mentoring programs and outcomes from both mentor and protégé perspectives. The outcomes examined were career and psychosocial mentoring, role modeling, and mentorship quality. In general, the results indicated that perceived input into the mentoring process and training perceived as high in quality were consistently related to the outcome variables. Implications for the design of formal mentoring programs and future theory development are discussed.

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Formal mentoring programs continue to gain popularity within organizations despite limited empirical research regarding how these programs should be designed to achieve maximum effectiveness. This study examined design features of formal mentoring programs and perceived program effectiveness from both mentor and protégé perspectives. Mentor commitment and program understanding were examined as mediators. Substantial support for the proposed path analytic model was found. These results help begin to bridge the gap between science and practice concerning the design of formal mentoring programs.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate relationships between mentoring others, perceptions of career plateauing, and job attitudes. A total of 306 government employees located in the southeastern United States completed surveys (50.08% response rate). Of these, 110 reported experience as a mentor. As expected, the results indicated that mentoring others was associated with more favorable job attitudes, whereas greater job content and hierarchical plateauing was associated with less favorable job attitudes. The results provided mixed support that mentoring others may alleviate the negative consequences associated with career plateauing. Specifically, the results indicated that mentor experience and psychosocial mentoring moderated the relationship for job content plateauing. Similar relationships were not found for hierarchical plateauing. Implications and future research suggestions are provided.