Running head: MENTORING PROGRAMS

Mentoring Programs and its Effect on Mentoring Relationships Briana McNeil EDUR 7130 Georgia Southern University Dr. Zhu

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Introduction Many students go throughout life without any one person to trust in and count on when they are going through situations. The impact of a mentor or role-model in a persons life can be seen years down the line. Mentors have an opportunity to instill into someone else all that they have learned and all that they know to someone else who needs guidance. This can be a first-year student in college, a new employee in the workplace or a new teacher in their first year of teaching. What are the effects of mentoring programs on different people? Research Selection The articles that were chosen for my project were found by using EBSCO Host on the GALILEO website hosted by Georgia Southern University. The database that I primarily used within GALILEO was Academic Search Complete. My search consisted of using the keywords mentoring, mentoring relationships, mentoring programs and mentoring. Using these keywords, I was able to find articles of quasi-experimental, qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The search criterion was limited to full text articles written between the years of 1998-2012. Conclusions My hypothesis that overall mentoring programs do have a positive effect of mentoring relationships is true. There were some studies that showed that in some instances the relationship did not succeed for various reasons. However, many of the studies in this project show that there are positive effects to have mentoring programs in place both at school and in the workplace. As a result of my research, I examined differing views about mentoring and tried not only to look at the positive side but also any negative effects of mentoring. I found many articles and research that shows the benefits of mentoring programs and why they should be included in many environments.

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Experiments

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Article: Kasprisin, C.A., Single, P.B., Single, R.M., Ferrier, J.L., and Muller, C.B. (2008). Improved mentor satisfaction: Emphasising protg training for adult-age mentoring dyads. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 16(2), 163-174. Introduction: The researchers examined the effects of required training for protgs on mentor outcome within a e-mentoring program, MentorNet. Mentoring and e-mentoring programs have focused on training mentors as opposed to the protgs. The researchers hope to prove that emphasis on protg training may be more beneficial than the mentor training for the mentoring dyad. Method: There was a total 3,347 students who applied for participation in the MentorNet program. From this population, a stratified random sample of 400 students was chosen. Half of the sample (n=200) consisted of 1st and 2nd year students and the other half (n=200) were juniors, seniors, and 5th-year seniors. The participants from MentorNet signed up for a one-year structured e-mentoring relationship. Using the stratified sample, the 400 participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Half were placed in the control group in which the e-training tutorials was optional, and the remaining half were required to complete the e-training tutorial and they were assigned to the experimental group. Results: The results indicated that mentors matched with protgs who participated in the required training tutorial (experimental group), experienced increased interactions as compared to the control group. The results illustrated that on average, mentors paired with protgs in the experimental group spent 14.41 minutes each week reading and answering messages compared with 11.45 minutes spent in the control group. The results also showed that for the mentors and protgs who engaged in the required training tutorials, they thought highly of their protgs 5.85 rating for experimental compared to the 5.40 rating for the control group. Discussion: The results from the study show improved mentor outcomes for involvement and satisfaction when protgs complete a required online training tutorial. Because of this the members gave higher ratings for questions related to their protg and their involvement was greater. They discussed that protg training for e-mentoring is beneficial for both protg and mentor especially because of the commitment form the protg. On the other hand, a training for mentors may be more appropriate for community or academic mentoring. Critique: One thing that I noticed with this study that I felt was a weakness was the lack of face to face contact. Although with this method time and geography could present potential problems for interactions. I feel that time together in person is valuable. A strength of this study is the fact that the protgs in the experimental group were required to do a training tutorial. This, as mentioned earlier will help to ensure retention and commitment to the mentoring program from both the protg and the mentor.

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Article: Larose, S., Chaloux, N., Monaghan, D., Tarabulsy, G. (2010). Working alliance as a moderator of the impact of mentoring relationships among academically at-risk students. Journal of Applied Psychology, 40(10), 2656-2686. Introduction: In Working alliance as a moderator of the impact of mentoring relationships among academically at-risk students they examined the role of the working alliance between teacher mentors and student protgs on the protgs academic performance. Method: The participants in this study were recruited from a public college located in Quebec City. There were 70 students who were identified because they failed half of their courses in spite of a good high school record. Out of the 70 students 42 agreed to participate in the mentoring program and study. Another 11 students declined to participate in the program but agreed to be apart of the study and thus they became the control group. First, to ensure that the groups were equivalent, they took the 11 students who did not want to participate in the program and matched them with 11 students who agreed to participate in the program. They were matched on the basis of high school and first-year college grades, gender, and study program and school semester. Secondly, since the number of participants from the control group was too small, the researchers found an additional 14 students from another college in the Quebec City region who also failed more than half their courses during the first year in college to be apart of the control group. In the end the experimental and control groups were made up of 25 students who were matched on high school and first-year college grades, gender, study program and school semester. Results: The results indicated that at-risk students were more likely than other students in the mentoring group as well as students in the control group to improve their academic ability and participation in class. They were also more likely to report improvements over time on a number of aspects of their academic experience were more prone to get help from teachers and were determined to succeed academically. Discussion: This study showed that students who agreed with their mentors that their working alliance was productive (i.e., good agreement on goals and positive bonding) were more likely than other students receiving mentoring and students in a control group to improve their academic competence, participation in class, dispositions to seek help from teachers, and school persistence. The results support the idea that a working alliance is an important aspect to the mentoring process. Critique: A weakness that I was concerned about is that the duration of the mentoring meetings was short. Was this enough time to show whether the mentoring actually affected their academic achievement? On the other hand, it was great to see that there was an improvement of grades and in their willingness to ask for help in both groups after this program was completed.

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Article: Egan, T.M., and Song, Z. (2008). Are facilitated mentoring programs beneficial? A randomized experimental field study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72(3), 351-362. Introduction: The researchers examined the impact of high and low-level facilitated mentoring programs on employees performance and perceptions about their jobs. The researchers hope to determine mentoring outcomes on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, personorganization fit and manager performance rating. Method: There were a total of 174 employees who were qualified to participate in the program as protgs. Out of the 174 individuals, 158 filled out both a pretest and posttest surveys and they became the participants for the study. The employees were randomly assigned to one of three groupshigh level facilitated, low level facilitated, or control. The final number was 57, 54 and 47 in that order. The mentors were chosen based on a specific criteria and the protgs were randomly assigned to a mentor. Both groups attended a kick-off and the mentoring pairs were given a chance to get to know each other and explained the guidelines and expectations. Questionnaires were administered to the program participants as well as those in the control group prior to their participation in the study as well as immediately following the end of the formal program 6 months later. Demographic and outcome data variables were collected from all the participants on the pretest questionnaire. Posttest data on the outcome variables was collected again from all study participants. Protgs and employees in the control group performance rating were collected from managers. The high facilitated group received ongoing monitoring, evaluation and support while the low level facilitated group only attended an orientation session at the start of the program. Results: The results indicated that a formal mentoring program can have positive effect on workrelated attitudes. The results also showed an increase in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, person-organization fit and performances by participants in both mentoring programs increased. In particular, the employees in high-level-facilitated group confirmed higher values for job satisfaction than the low-level-facilitated group, and both groups had higher values than the control group (adjusted mean = 17.88, 16.52 and 15.19, respectively). Discussion: The study indicated significant differences in relation to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, person-organization fit and manager performance rating from the experiment. The researchers suggest that the mentoring relationship and structure is not developed naturally but it is facilitated. They also suggest that this facilitation effort is beneficial to the mentoring relationship and that programs that have ongoing facilitation are significantly more effective. Critique: One weakness of this study is that it only examined two formal mentoring programs. It is possible that if this same study were conducted at another company or industry that the results may be different. A strength of this study is the that it did involve a large number of participants. This allows the researchers to effectively compare results and have more valid results.

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Article: Wheeler, S., and Lambert-Heggs, W. (2009). Connecting distance learners and their mentors using blogs: the MentorBlog Project. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10(4), 323-331. Introduction: The researchers examined the importance of mentoring in the teacher education process and compared traditional mentoring with another option of blog mentoring. The researchers hope to prove that blogging can be a useful alternative when mentors and protgs are not able to meet face-to-face on a regular basis. Method: Student teachers and mentors were recruited on a voluntary basis and they were expected to regularly write down their reflections in either their online diary of online blog. The control group consisted of those participants chosen to be mentored by using logs or diaries and the experimental group consisted of those who shared blogs at a distance. The study lasted for at least one term and some lasted for the full academic year. There were three students in the distance blogging group, three students in the face-to-face group and a sum of six mentors for a total of 12 (n=12) participants. The participants kept diaries and blogs and after the first term or end of study each student was interviewed and transcripts created to aid in analysis. Results: The results indicated that the mentees who kept conventional logs were for the most part more consistent with their record keeping than those participants who kept an online blog record. The results also show a few of the face-to-face mentoring relationships experienced some tension. One in particular the mentee stated that the face-to-face style of her mentor was suffocating and cloying. Discussion: The study of the MentorBlog project was still in its beginning stages at the time of this article. The researchers discussed that both the face-to-face and blogging methods have advantage and disadvantages and that students should be given control over what is written in the blogs and the mentors should respond with supportive and appropriate comments. Critique: One weakness of this study is there was no introductory or orientation period. There was no time for each of the participants to know exactly what was expected of them and how much effort and time would be involved in the study. I feel that if the participants knew exactly what would take place with the study and how it would be run that some of the negative results that came out of it would not have happened. Since they were not fully aware of what the relationship would be like they were more resistant to some things that happened during the study. I think that the use of diaries and blogs for both groups was a strength of the study. The responses allow for a good depiction of the true feelings of participants, which can help with future studies.

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Article: Everston, C. M., and Smithey, M. W. (2000). Mentoring effects on protgs classroom practice: an experimental field study. The Journal of Educational Research, 93(5), 293-304. Introduction: The researchers examined the effects of mentoring in a formal mentoring program for new teachers. The researchers hope to explore the efficacy of using a mentoring program to assist mentor teachers in assisting their protgs. Method: The participants were chosen from two school associations that received funding for developing and evaluating an entry program for teachers. The study included 46 experienced teachers and those who served as mentors for new teachers and they were paired with 46 novice teachers. All 46 protgs participated in a 3-day workshop that covered information about classroom organization, behavior management practices and classroom routines. Twenty-three of the mentors were in the treatment group and participated in a 4-day workshop before school began and follow up meetings during the school year. The remaining twenty-three experienced teachers made up the comparison group and did not participate in the workshop. Observations of the groups lasted 30-50 minutes and were scheduled to include the beginning and ending of lessons. Data also came from videotapes of mentor-protg conferences, ratings of classroom instruction, weekly summaries of mentor and protg meetings, monthly goal-setting summaries, student engagement, mentor perceptions of protg needs and narrative records. Results: Results indicated that protgs of mentors participating in the mentoring program could more effectively organize and manage instruction in the classroom at the beginning of the year. The results also showed that the protgs who had mentors that participated in the mentor program had better behavior and engagement in the classroom. Discussion: The study presents evidence that shows that preparing mentors for their task does not enable them to be more successful if success is based and defined by the protg. For example, they found that protgs of trained mentors had increased evidence of developing and maintaining a more workable classroom and gained more cooperation in academic tasks. An important finding in the study is that the presence of a mentor alone is not enough because the protg also needs the mentors knowledge and skills for support. The study wanted to show the importance of preparing mentors and giving them the tools they need to help novice teachers succeed in their entry year. Critique: A critique of the study is whether or not the training the mentors received is directly linked to the success of their protgs. I would like to know if it was the training or the knowledge and skills that the mentors already possessed from being experienced in teaching. A strength of this study is the fact that the protgs had an opportunity to work with an experienced mentor in the field that could show them the proper way to conduct their classrooms. Outside of the student teaching requirement this additional help from the mentor their first year in the classroom offers reassurance and critiques so that they may be successful.

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Other Quantitative Studies

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Article: Allen, T., Eby, L., Lentz, E. (2006). Mentorship Behaviors and Mentorship Quality Associated with Formal Mentoring Programs: Closing the Gap Between Research and Practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(3), 567-578. Introduction: In Mentorship Behaviors and Mentorship Quality Associated with Formal Mentoring Programs: Closing the Gap Between Research and Practice they examined the correlation between the mentoring programs as well as the perceived outcomes from both the mentor and the protg relationships. Method: The participants came from four different organizations that already had formal mentorship programs in place. There were a total of 175 protgs and 110 mentors. The researchers used surveys to measure the quality of formal mentoring programs. Surveys were generated on the basis of review of literature about formal mentoring programs. The mentor and protg surveys contained identical questions but were worded differently based on the perspective of each. Both web-based and a paper and pencil version were used in the survey. For the web-based participants, the protgs were contacted first by email and provided a unique link to complete the survey. When the survey was complete the protgs inputted their mentors email address and an automated email was delivered with the unique link so that the mentor and protg responses could be easily matched. The paper and pencil surveys contained a numerical code that allowed for survey matching. Results: The results indicated that noticeable participation into the matching process is vital for both the mentor as well as the protg. The findings revealed crossover effects such that the mentorship quality and role modeling was better with greater input when compared with the relationships with less input. The results also indicated that geographical location is does not play a role in the relationship. It does however show that the correlation between proximity and correlation is moderate and that the closer the protg and mentor are the more they interact. Discussion: The results revealed several specific program characteristics that show important correlation between the mentoring behavior and the mentoring relationship. They studied a few different areas involved with the mentoring process and some were proved to be beneficial while others were not. For example, there was little evidence to support the efficacy of mentoring relationships within departments. However, it suggested for future research to examine the climate of the department to see if it is supportive of mentorships. Critique: A weakness that I was concerned about is that 681 invitations went out to protgs for the study but only 175 participated. I would have liked an explanation to why the number decreased. Also, strength is that the researchers findings reassured participants that they have input in the matching process for mentorship relationships.

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Article: Karcher, M. (2005). The effects of developmental mentoring and high school mentors attendance on their younger mentees self-esteem, social skills, and connectedness. Psychology in the Schools, 42(1), 65-67. Introduction: In The Effects of Developmental Mentoring and High School Mentors Attendance on Their Younger Mentees Self-Esteem, Social Skills, and Connectedness they examined the effect of mentors attendance on their mentees outcomes after they participated in a six months of developmental mentoring. Method: The participants in this study totaled 77 who were randomly assigned to mentoring. Both pre and post assessments were conducted in groups of 15-20 youth including both mentees and the comparison group of both high and low risks youth together. Students were given surveys and told that the surveys that they completed were being conducted to help gather information that was needed to help develop school programs. Two evaluations were conducted to estimate relationships of both mentor and mentee attendance and the changes that it had on connectedness. The mentoring took place at the middle school and it was formatted for twice a week after school for two hours. The Developmental Mentoring Program included daily activities such as an icebreaker, a curriculum activity, a snack, and a group recreational activity. The curriculum activities promoted connectedness to peers, friends, family, self, parents, school and reading. This program also included a monthly Saturday recreational events in which parents were invited to come and spend time with both the children and the mentors. Results: The results indicated that there was a positive effect of program participation on the connectedness to school and parents. Changes in social skills, self-esteem, and connectedness were more related to mentor attendance as opposed to mentee attendance. Using a normative evaluation the results indicated that there was a main effect on two of the four connectedness scales. The casual evaluation pointed to the fact that mentor attendance was positively related to the total connectedness but not to the connectedness of school and parents. Discussion: The study suggests that there are positive gains made by mentees of connectedness to school after the six months of the developmental program. The mentoring program promoted positive attitudes and increased engagement by both the parents and the school. The quality of the mentoring relationship is based on the behavioral commitment that is shown through consistent attendance. It ultimately showed that a mentors attendance could have a direct effect on mentees social skills and self-esteem. Critique: A weakness that I was concerned about is the mentees who had mentors that were not consistent and the effect it had on the children. On the other hand, it was great to see that there was a positive correlation with mentors who were involved with their mentees on a consistent basis. This mentoring relationship can prove to be very beneficial.

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Article: Ragins, B.R., and Cotton, J. L. (1999). Mentor Functions: A comparison of men and women in formal and informal mentoring relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(4), 529-550. Introduction: In Mentor Functions: A comparison of men and women in formal and informal mentoring relationships they examined different types of mentoring relationships, the gender composition of the relationship and the effects it has on mentoring functions and career outcomes. Method: The participants in this study were obtained from a national random sample by using ailing list from professional associations representing three different occupations: engineering, social work and journalism. A total number of 3,000 surveys were mailed and 1,000 were sent to each occupation (500 to men and 500 to women). A total of 1,258 surveys were returned which equated to a response rate of 42% and completed data for analysis was available for 1,162 respondents. The occupational breakdown was 362 journalists, 414 social workers, and 386 engineers. The final sample was composed of 614 protgs, which consisted of 352 female protgs, and 257 male protgs and 5 who did not report their gender. The respondents were asked to give information about each of their mentoring relationships for the previous ten years, report whether the relationship was formal or informal, the gender of the mentors and the duration of the relationship. Results: The results indicated that protgs with informal mentors received more career outcomes and the gender composition of the relationship did affect mentoring functions and outcomes. Another result of the study showed that informal mentors viewed their mentors as more effective than the protgs with formal mentors. One effect of gender on mentoring relationships is that male protgs with female mentors were less likely to report that their mentors provided challenging assignments. Discussion: This study found that protgs with informal mentors received greater benefits than protgs with formal mentors. The protgs with informal mentors reported that their mentors provided more career development and psychosocial functions than with formal mentors. The researchers discussed their second objective and that the study revealed that the gender composition of the mentoring relationships affected the reports of mentor functions. They did find that female protgs with female mentors were more likely to engage in activities outside of work. Critique: One critique of the study is the unequal number of men and women who participated and whether or not the gender affected the mentoring relationships. Secondly, a study that is based over a longer period of time would have provided more evidence for use and analysis. On the other hand, it was great to see that the mentors in most situations did provide career development and friendship within their mentoring relationships.

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Article: Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., and Lentz, E. (2006). The relationship between formal mentoring program characteristics and perceived program effectiveness. Personnel Psychology, 59(1), 125-153. Introduction: In The relationship between formal mentoring program characteristics and perceived program effectiveness they examined design features of formal mentoring programs and the perceived program effectiveness from both the perspective of the mentor and the protg. This study examined two major aspects of formal mentoring program design, participant input into the mentoring process and training prior to the mentorship, and how these characteristics related to perceived program effectiveness. Method: The participants in this study were selected from organizations that had formal mentoring already in place including a healthcare organization, an oil company, a technology firm, and a manufacturing firm. In total there were a total of 175 protgs and 110 mentors. Both a paper and pencil survey and a web-based version of the survey were sued to collect data. The surveys for the mentor and protg contained identical questions but worded differently for each role. With the paper and pencil surveys, protgs delivered the mentor survey to their mentors and surveys were matched using a numerical code. For the Web-based survey, protgs inputting the mail address of their mentors and an automated email was delivered to the mentors with an unique URL so that the responses could be matched. An estimated 681 invitations were sent to protgs. Results: The results indicated that both mentor commitment, program understanding and training quality all had direct effects on the perceived program effectiveness. The results also showed that both mentor and protg input into the matching process relate to program effectiveness through the commitment of their mentoring relationships. Programs that allow participants to have some say in the matching process were proved to be more effective. Discussion: This study examined the relationship between specific mentoring program characteristics and perceived program effectiveness from the perspective of both the mentor and the protg. The researchers found that it is likely that the beliefs about program, effectiveness are influenced by how much mentoring the protgs receive and the extent to which they are prepared for more challenging roles in the organization. Critique: One critique is the variance of the number of participants involved in the study and information was collected at a singe point in time. It would have been better if data was collected at differing pints during the study. On the other hand, the study did a good job of looking at all explaining how mentoring programs do relate to program effectiveness.

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Article: Wanberg, C. R., Kammeyer-Mueller, J., and Marchese, M. (2006). Mentor and protg predictors and outcomes of mentoring in a formal mentoring program. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69(3), 410-423. Introduction: In Mentor and protg predictors and outcomes of mentoring in a formal mentoring program they examined how the personality of the individuals in the mentoring dyad, their perceived similarity, and mentor perceived support for mentoring contributed to relationship outcomes. Method: The participants in this study were apart of a 12-month formal mentoring program that was designed and implemented by a company who specialized in mentoring systems. Brief fillin-the-blank survey was completed by protgs and mentors were matched with less experienced protgs based on this information from the surveys. There were a total of 96 dyads, which was 23% of the original pairs. The dyads were asked to meet for a minimum of 90 minutes per month and data was collected at three time points. Time 1 was at the start of the program, time 2 was six months into the program and time 3 took place one year after the end of the program. Results: The results show that mentor proactivity which was measured at the start of the program, positively relates to both protg and mentor reports of psychosocial mentoring received and provided. The results also showed that there was a higher level of career mentoring reported by the protg that related to career goal clarity over the duration of the study. The results suggest that mentor and protgs positive perceptions are related to the amount of mentoring that occurs in a formal relationship. Discussion: This study noted that a sense of friendship, role modeling, counseling, and acceptance would occur more often among the pairs if they had some sort similarities related to their field and social activities. The study also found that the more proactive mentors are more likely to provide more mentoring suggestions and will encourage their protgs to be more proactive. Critique: One critique is the number of participants involved in the study was smaller broader number would have lead to a wider results of the mentoring program. A larger sample size would allow for other variables to be included in the analysis. One strength of this study is that it examined the personality of the individuals that were apart of the mentoring dyad, which offered a different perspective to the mentoring relationship.

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Qualitative Studies

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Article: Allen, T. D., Poteet, M. L., and Burroughs, S. M. (1997). The mentors perspective: a qualitative inquiry and future research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51(1), 70-89. Introduction: The researchers examined the mentoring process from the perspective of the mentor. The majority of mentoring research has focused on the protg instead of the mentor and the researchers hope to find out the reasons why a person decides to mentor others. Method: There were a total of twenty-seven employees from five different organizations who had mentored others and who represented a diverse range of industries as well as job categories. Human resource professionals within each of the participating organizations were asked to find individuals who had not participated as an informal mentor. From this list interviews were conducted by telephone and when permission was granted the interviews were videotaped. A set of standard interview questions was presented and were open-ended to allow the opportunity to ask additional questions whenever necessary. A multistep content-analytic procedure was used to analyze the data. Each content area comments were grouped together and the resulting dimensions were provided a name to reflect the comments. Next, the identified dimensions were recategorized to group comments correctly and the higher-order factors were presented and agreed upon. Results: The results indicated that the top reason for mentoring others was a desire to pass information on to other. One response included Its just sharing past experience with people realizing that at one time I needed such guidance as well. The number of comments that was related to this result totaled thirteen. Another result of the study is the protg attractiveness to in relation to the mentor. There were ten comments that related to the protg reflection of self. Some responses included, They reminded me of myselfWe have a lot in common and I could see myself in their eyes early in my career. They also found that there were positive benefits of mentoring and that mentoring helps develop close relationships/friendships. Discussion: The researcher provided research propositions that broaden the linkage to mentorship theory. They also discussed that mentoring others appeared to be motivated by improving the wellbeing of other and the wellbeing of self. Mentors who are motivated by a desire to help other may be more willing to help and want to mentor a struggling employee than a mentor who is looking for self gain. Overall, the results showed that the mentors reported obtaining more benefits then cost with mentoring others. The mentors reported learning just as much from their protg as their protg learned from them. Critique: One thing that I noticed with this study that I felt was a weakness was the variation with the interview questions. In general the questions were the same for all participants but they did mention that the questions were open-ended. I am sure each individual was not asked the same question because each response may have been different. This may cause inconsistency in the results. One thing that I noticed that was strength of this study is that the mentors had a chance to openly express their feelings about their process. There were not sets of answers that they would choose from like a test. They were allowed to speak freely and openly and I feel that strengthened this study.

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Article: Heirdsfield, A. M., Walker, S., Walsh, K., and Wilss, L. (2008). Peer mentoring for first-year teacher education students: the mentors experience. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 16(2), 109-124. Introduction: The study examined a peer-mentoring program for first-year undergraduate students from the mentees perspective. The purpose of the study was to determine a way to effectively orient and support new students with their first year of university life by examining a mentoring program from the perspective of the mentors. Method: There were a total of forty-five mentee participants who were selected from two hundred and twenty first-year students enrolled in a full-time teacher education program. A total of twenty-two potential mentors were invited to participate and only nine responded and agreed to be apart of the study. Each of the nine mentors was assigned five mentees. Data was collected from the mentors in the form of written reflections that focused on their mentees experience, progress and development and the mentors own experience and growth and development over the thirteen-week semester. Results: The results came from the mentors reflective comments and explanations. They indicated that four main themes emerged from this study each with their own sub-themes: preparation for mentoring; personal approaches to mentoring; benefits of mentoring; and frustration of mentoring. One of the most important of the four main themes was the preparation for mentoring in which the mentors were enthusiastic and felt that with their expertise that they could create an easier transition for their mentees. They felt that they received great information from workshops and were well prepared for their roles as mentors. The results of the benefits of mentoring indicated a sense of reciprocity for both mentor and mentee. The mentees grew in confidence and enthusiasm and they both grew professionally and personally. Discussion: The researcher discussed that while the mentoring program had many positive outcomes, the mentors did experience some frustrations with the mentoring relationship. Some mentors stated that the experience was more time consuming than anticipated. The frustrations caused the mentors to lose focus and future recruitment processes will result in more thorough interviews with prospective mentors about their time commitment. Overall, mentoring was a positive experience for the mentors. Positive social support activities took place during the course of the program and leads to cognitive growth for both mentor and mentee. Critique: One thing that I noticed with this study that I felt was a weakness was the length of time for the mentorship relationship. Although the results showed that the relationships were very successful I feel that a longer study of the relationships would have lead to a stronger support of their hypotheses. One thing that I noticed that was strength of this study is the fact that the study gives the perspective of the mentor in terms of reflections. This allows for more personal results, which can be more beneficial when determining efficacy of the mentor role in a mentoring relationship.

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Article: Spencer, R. (2007). Its not what I expected: a qualitative study of youth mentoring relationship failures. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 22(4), 331-354. Introduction: The study wanted to establish why no attention has been paid to understanding why about half of youth mentoring programs relationships end in failure. There have been many discussion about adults who make a difference in a young persons life but not much talk about what happens when the relationships do not go well. Method: Participants for this study were recruited from two Big Brothers Big Sisters of America community based programs from an urban community. Mentors were asked to make a one year commitment and they also attended a prematch training. There were a total of thirty-one male and female participants (20 adults and 11 adolescents were apart of an in-depth interview for the study. The mentoring relationships lasted between 1 and 11 months. In depth interviews were conducted and each interview lasted one hour. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed in preparation for analysis. Each interview was read through and then constructed as a narrative summary. From these summaries researchers identified two major categories (a) expectations for and (b) challenges faced within the mentoring relationships. Results: The results indicated that one reason for the failed mentoring relationship is because the mentor disappeared or abandoned the protg. For example, a few youth were anxiously awaiting a mentor to show for a scheduled outing and they never showed. The results also showed that in some cases the mentoring relationship ended because the protgs expectations were not met. Two youth interviewed decided to end their matches because they did not fell that their mentor was a good match for them. Discussion: The goal of the study was to gain an understanding of failures in youth mentoring relationships through an open-ended study. The study makes clear the importance of examination of the mentoring relationship failure. It suggest that greater attention to the range of participants experiences in mentoring relationships would offer better ways to improve youth mentoring program practices. The study suggests that it can be challenging to build close and lasting relationships with a highly vulnerable young person especially in cases where the adult has not had to deal with such situations and cannot relate. Critique: One weakness for this study is the lack of commitment from the participants. Although working with youth who are highly vulnerable that should be no excuse to stick it out and help them in anyway possible. I feel that the lack of continued participation hurt the final results of the study. One strength of this study is that it points out the fact that not only should the good things about why mentoring relationships works be examined but the reasons why they fail should also be examined. By doing this assessment, programs can do a self-evaluation and see what areas need to worked on and fixed.

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Article: Wrench, J. S., and Punyanunt, N. M. (2004). Advisee-advisor communication: an exploratory study examining interpersonal communication variables in the graduate adviseeadvisor relationship. Communication Quarterly, 52(3), 224-236. Introduction: The purpose of the study was to investigate graduate students perceptions of their graduate advisors communication and how these perceptions impact advisees perceptions of learning, effectiveness of the advisee-advisor relationship, and advisors degree of mentoring. Method: Participants were graduate students that were gathered from around the nation through electronic means. The sample design is that of a purposive networking sample. The sample consisted of 84 females, 66 males and 3 non-responding for a total of 153 participants. Advisee were asked to asses their perceptions of their own learning and participants were asked to respond to their perceived effectiveness of their relationship with their advisor. Results: The results indicated that the credibility and communication competence was significantly related to the level of perceived learning. The study found that the competence and caring/good will and trustworthiness was not related to learning. The study also found that the advisor nonverbal immediacy, perceived advisor competence and trustworthiness did not account for the relationship effectiveness. Discussion: The researcher noted that the advisees perception and amount of mentoring he or she received from his or her graduate advisor positively accounted for in the study. If an advisor is incompetent in his or her attempts at communicating with their advisee the advisee in turn will not get as much out of that mentoring relationship and they could with someone who is communicating well. Critique: One thing that was noted in the study is that the research participants were not random and that could influence the results. With that being said, it is a chance that the study did not produce a representative sample of the entire populations of graduate students. One strength is that the ample consisted of a lot of diversity, which allowed for a general understanding of the communication process that took place.

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Article: Langer, A. M. (2010). Mentoring nontraditional undergraduate students: a case study in higher education. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 18(1), 23-38. Introduction: The purpose of the study was to investigate an institutions mandated mentoring program as part of its mission and examining students perceptions of the mentoring received. The study was designed to address questions about the effectiveness of traditional mentoring models for nontraditional students. Method: The study used a survey instrument and expert interview. For the interview portion the interviewers used the same interview guide to ensure the questions asked were the same. The data collected from the interviews were coded according to their relevance to the research questions and topics mentioned by interviewees. Survey items were developed from the interview results to collect the data from a broader audience of alumni. This broader interview phase utilized a mail survey because it minimized sampling error and allowed the respondents to take their time when responding to the questions. The survey was sent to 300 alumni and 161 (54%) responded. The expert interviews were conducted face-to-face and participants were not limited in their response. Results: The results showed that the students viewed the mentoring process as a tool for accomplishing their academic goals. The results also showed that students with lower levels of self confidence rely more on their mentors for moral support. Also evident in the results is that the full-time students expected their mentors to act as liaisons and that there may be need to alternate mentoring styles and structure depending on a students enrollment status. Discussion: The study showed that students had more philosophical differences in their expectations of their mentors. The study suggests that student sin humanities and business wanted a more personalized mentoring process while those in such fields as math and science focused on academic quality of what they needed to learn. Critique: A weakness that was brought up in the study is the lack of consistency with the way mentoring is defined both within and across categories. If they is no set definition for mentoring how do we know what it is? A strength of the study is that is uncovered a lot of issues or concerns that will help perspective mentors with the mentoring process.