Marginal Mentoring: The Effects of Type of Mentor, Quality of Relationship, and Program Design on Work and Career Attitudes.

Ragins, Belle Rose; Cotton, John L.; Miller, Joel

doi:10.2307/1556344

Cited by 668 publications

(239 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…10 There are also no significant differences in means for each dependent variable according to MENTOR (all p-values >0.05). Consistent with calls to examine the quality of the mentoring relationship (Allen et al, 2004;Ragins et al, 2000), our results show that the mere presence of a mentor has no effect on organizational turnover intentions or any other variables in our model. 11…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Operationalizing mentoring as a dichotomous (yes/no) variable is problematic because it potentially masks the effects of mentoring relationships by combining good and poor quality mentoring in one category (Ragins, Cotton & Miller, 2000). We argue that it is not the presence or absence of a mentor that is important; rather, it is the quality of a mentoring relationship that is likely to affect an individual's turnover intentions (Allen et al, 2004;Ragins et al, 2000).A mentor can provide two different types of support: career development support and psychosocial support (Kram, 1985). 3 Prior research on mentoring has argued that both career development support and psychosocial support are negatively associated with intentions to leave the accounting firm (Scandura & Viator, 1994; Barker et al, 1999;Herbohn, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mentoring and turnover intentions in public accounting firms: A research note

Hall

Smith

2009

Accounting, Organizations and Society

122

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Turnover in public accounting firms is a critically important issue as firms seek to retain quality accounting personnel in the face of skilled labour shortages. Mentoring is one initiative that has been suggested as a means of reducing the high costs associated with employee turnover. However, prior accounting research examining the association between mentoring and turnover intentions has produced mixed results, which may be due, at least in part, to difficulties in operationalizing the mentoring construct. Drawing on recent management literature regarding organizational turnover intentions, we challenge the conventional view that mentoring generally leads to reduced turnover intentions, by testing a theoretical model that posits that different functions of mentoring have differing effects on turnover intentions. Specifically, we argue that while the psychosocial support function of mentoring can serve to reduce public accountants' turnover intentions, the career development function of mentoring has the potential to increase turnover intentions. Results support this conclusion. 3 IntroductionIn recent years there has been considerable interest surrounding the development, operation and effects of mentoring relationships within public accounting firms (see, for example, Viator & Pasewark, 2005;Herbohn, 2004;Kaplan, Keinath & Walo, 2001). A mentoring relationship is an interpersonal exchange between a senior experienced colleague (the mentor) and a less-experienced junior colleague (the protégé) in which the mentor provides direction, support and feedback to the protégé regarding career plans and personal development (Russell & Adams, 1997;Kram, 1985). One of the strongest claims regarding mentoring relationships is that they assist public accounting firms in retaining employees (AICPA, 2007; Gregg, 1999). However, despite numerous studies, it is unclear whether and how mentoring relationships affect public accountants' organizational turnover intentions. 1 Simply having a mentor does not necessarily result in lower turnover intentions; some studies find a negative association between having a mentor and intentions to leave the accounting firm (Viator & Scandura, 1991;Scandura & Viator, 1994; Barker, Monks & Buckley, 1999), whereas others report no association (Viator, 2001;Herbohn, 2004). Studies focusing on the support provided by a mentor to a protégé also report mixed results. Some research finds that more career development and psychosocial support from a mentor is associated with lower turnover intentions (Herbohn, 2004; Barker et al., 1999), but other studies find no 1 Given the difficulties associated with obtaining data on actual turnover behaviour, we focus our analysis on organizational turnover intentions. Prior research shows that turnover intention is a valid and reliable indicator of subsequent turnover behaviour (Steel & Ovalle, 1984). 4 associations (Viator & Scandura, 1994). 2 We propose several explanations for these mixed findings.Most prior research has focused on differences in t...

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confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Mentoring and turnover intentions in public accounting firms: A research note

Hall

Smith

2009

Accounting, Organizations and Society

122

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“…While Chao et al (1992 p634) propose random allocation of mentees to mentors is "analogous to blind dates; [with] a small probability that the match would be successful", Boice (1992a) found that most of the pairs had successful mentoring relationships. Similarly, Ragins et al (2000) found no support for their hypothesis that participation by mentees and mentors in the matching process would yield more positive attitudes and would be viewed as more effective than programs which assigned participants to mentoring pairs. The majority of Australian academics surveyed by Madison et al (1993) thought that 'chemistry' between mentee and mentor was not a factor in a successful mentoring relationship.…”

Section: Pairing In Mentoring Programs: Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…They show conflicting results for approaches to the pairing process. Some studies of mentor pairs formed by a program coordinator achieved satisfactory relationships (D'Abate and Eddy 2008;Boice 1992a;Ragins et al 2000), while other studies demonstrated that participant input into the pairing process was preferable (Viator 1999;Ragins and Cotton 1999;Allen et al 2006). In a program where the coordinator matched mentors and mentees based on informal knowledge and biographical data about participants, mentors were extremely satisfied with the pairing process (D'Abate and Eddy 2008).…”

Section: Pairing In Mentoring Programs: Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking for Professor Right: mentee selection of mentors in a formal mentoring program

Bell

Treleaven

2010

High Educ

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Abstract:Finding a suitable mentor is crucial to the success of mentoring relationships. In the mentoring literature, however, there is conflicting evidence about the best ways to support the pairing process in organisational mentoring programs. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the pairing process in an academic mentoring program that has implications for building a mentoring culture in higher education. The program which began with a pilot and has continued for five years with one hundred and twenty one participants, was conducted with mentees selecting their own mentor from a pool of mentors who volunteered to be part of the program. In the pilot program, where mentors and mentees first met as one group, some mentees reported that the process of selecting and approaching a mentor was uncomfortable and intimidating. Nine of twenty-three potential mentees did not form mentoring relationships. Analysis of subsequent program evaluation data pointed to the importance of two factors in the pairing process: personal connections and facilitation of the selection process. This study at a research-intensive university demonstrates that when the pairing process is tailored to individual mentees, they are comfortable selecting a mentor and to then develop a successful mentoring relationship.

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Mentoring

Sambunjak

Marušić²

2009

JAMA

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Marginal Mentoring: The Effects of Type of Mentor, Quality of Relationship, and Program Design on Work and Career Attitudes.

Cited by 668 publications

References 31 publications

Mentoring and turnover intentions in public accounting firms: A research note

Mentoring and turnover intentions in public accounting firms: A research note

Looking for Professor Right: mentee selection of mentors in a formal mentoring program

Mentoring

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