Mentoring which is a process of tutoring a junior person in a workplace by a senior colleague is becoming more challenging especially in the university system. The objective of this study therefore is to provide empirical investigation in the Nigerian context on the challenges associated with mentoring for both the mentor and the protégé in the university system. The study employed a survey research design. The population consists of all academic staff in three randomly selected universities in Edo state namely:

The study investigated how mentoring is being adopted and practiced among academics in three universities in Edo State, Nigeria. A survey research design was used. A structured questionnaire was administered to 459 academic staff across the three universities in Edo State. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and the Binomial test. The study finds that mentoring though not formalized was widely practiced in universities in Edo State. Both senior and junior lecturers agreed that mentoring was very important in teaching the younger colleagues how to better perform their jobs. Given the above findings, the study recommends that universities in Edo State should as a matter of necessity formalize the adoption of mentoring among academic staff thus giving it institutional support to make it more effective with measurable outcomes. Also, a mentoring programme of universities should be structured in a way that would incorporate the uniqueness of the different areas of specialization in advancing mentees' career development.