This applied dissertation was a quantitative, data-mining analysis to determine the effects of mentoring on career advancement after employees participated in a 1-year formal leadership mentoring program. The company in this study developed a formal leadership mentoring program as part of its talent development and succession planning strategy. Company leaders selected mentoring participants from an internal pool of diverse high-potential leaders to participate in the leadership mentoring program. This study implemented a quantitative, data-mining research method technique to analyze the company’s data on the formal leadership mentoring program from a monitored system. The purpose of data mining was to review and analyze career-progression results of women and people of color to see if employees were advancing in careers as all other mentoring participants who participated in the 2009 and 2010 mentoring program classes. Quantitative data-mining results showed that, in 2009 and 2010, the total population was 105. Mentees who were women and people of color represented 79% of employees who remained at the company. In addition, 13 women of color were promoted at the study company after attending the leadership mentoring program. Company leaders selected mentoring participants from an internal pool of diverse high-potential leaders to include Black-African Americans, Asians, Hispanics-Latinos, and Whites. This data-mining study provided valuable to mentoring, career advancement, and succession planning for the leadership that could provide confirmation for the need to offer formal mentoring programs to increase the numbers of women and people of color in middle- and senior-level management positions.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / In die verhandeling word mentorskap as 'n begeleidingshandeling ondersoek. Die oorsprong van mentorskap word nagespeur, enkele deur tyd beproefde kenmerke van mentorskap word bespreek en heersende praktyke ter bevordering van mentorskap word met die van vervloe eras vergelyk. 'n Uiteenlopende verskeidenheid opvattinge oor mentorskap word aan die orde gestel: benewens die standpunte van eietydse ontwikkelingpsigoloe, beroepskundiges, onderwys- en opvoedkundiges word die klassieke opvatting van mentorskap (socs wat dit weergegee is in die Odusseia en die Les Adventures de Telemaque, die werke van onderskeidelik Homerus en Fenelon) ook ender die loep geplaas. In die laaste afdeling word 'n aantal gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings gemaak met betrekking tot die doelstellings, aard, kenmerke en waarde van mentorskap, faktore wat die eindresultate van mentorskap kan beinvloed en die bekwaamhede en persoonseienskappe van mentors. Die aanbevelings sluit riglyne vir die effektiewe hantering van problematiese aangeleenthede rondommentorskap, ender meer die verpragmatisering en formalisering daarvan, in. / In this dissertation mentoring as a form of guidance is researched. The origin of mentoring is investigated, a few characteristics of mentoring which have stood the test of time are discussed and prevailing practices promoting mentoring are compared with those of bygone eras. A diverse variety of approaches to mentoring are presented: in addition to the views of contemporary behavioural psychologists, vocationalists, educationists and teaching specialists, the classic interpretation of mentoring (as presented in the Odyssey and the Les Adventures de Telemaque (the works of Homer and Fenelon respectively) is also considered. In the last section a number of conclusions and recommendations are made regarding the aims, nature, characteristics and value of mentoring, factors affecting the outcome of mentoring and the skills and personal characteristics of mentors. The recommendations include guidelines for the effective handling of problematic issues regarding mentoring, such as the pragmatization and formalization thereof. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Studies)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / In die verhandeling word mentorskap as 'n begeleidingshandeling ondersoek. Die oorsprong van mentorskap word nagespeur, enkele deur tyd beproefde kenmerke van mentorskap word bespreek en heersende praktyke ter bevordering van mentorskap word met die van vervloe eras vergelyk. 'n Uiteenlopende verskeidenheid opvattinge oor mentorskap word aan die orde gestel: benewens die standpunte van eietydse ontwikkelingpsigoloe, beroepskundiges, onderwys- en opvoedkundiges word die klassieke opvatting van mentorskap (socs wat dit weergegee is in die Odusseia en die Les Adventures de Telemaque, die werke van onderskeidelik Homerus en Fenelon) ook ender die loep geplaas. In die laaste afdeling word 'n aantal gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings gemaak met betrekking tot die doelstellings, aard, kenmerke en waarde van mentorskap, faktore wat die eindresultate van mentorskap kan beinvloed en die bekwaamhede en persoonseienskappe van mentors. Die aanbevelings sluit riglyne vir die effektiewe hantering van problematiese aangeleenthede rondommentorskap, ender meer die verpragmatisering en formalisering daarvan, in. / In this dissertation mentoring as a form of guidance is researched. The origin of mentoring is investigated, a few characteristics of mentoring which have stood the test of time are discussed and prevailing practices promoting mentoring are compared with those of bygone eras. A diverse variety of approaches to mentoring are presented: in addition to the views of contemporary behavioural psychologists, vocationalists, educationists and teaching specialists, the classic interpretation of mentoring (as presented in the Odyssey and the Les Adventures de Telemaque (the works of Homer and Fenelon respectively) is also considered. In the last section a number of conclusions and recommendations are made regarding the aims, nature, characteristics and value of mentoring, factors affecting the outcome of mentoring and the skills and personal characteristics of mentors. The recommendations include guidelines for the effective handling of problematic issues regarding mentoring, such as the pragmatization and formalization thereof. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Studies)

The boy in his late middle childhood faces enormous changes — physically, socially and mentally. World-wide, people experience challenges - politically and economically as well as regarding social structures such as families. Children are not excluded from these challenges. Family structures change over time and fathers are increasingly becoming absent in the lives of their children. This Master's dissertation provides information concerning three major aspects regarding the boy. The first, as described in Article 1, is the effect of the absent father on the boy in his late middle childhood and that of the alternative father figure, the mentor. The second major aspect, as described in Article 2, is the influence of family ordinance on the boy in his transition phase from middle childhood into adolescence, his experience of the biological father and his expectancies regarding a mentor relationship The third major aspect is the adolescent boy's experience of his biological father, the influence of an alternative father figure, namely the mentor, and the affect of the mentor relationship. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The boy in his late middle childhood faces enormous changes — physically, socially and mentally. World-wide, people experience challenges - politically and economically as well as regarding social structures such as families. Children are not excluded from these challenges. Family structures change over time and fathers are increasingly becoming absent in the lives of their children. This Master's dissertation provides information concerning three major aspects regarding the boy. The first, as described in Article 1, is the effect of the absent father on the boy in his late middle childhood and that of the alternative father figure, the mentor. The second major aspect, as described in Article 2, is the influence of family ordinance on the boy in his transition phase from middle childhood into adolescence, his experience of the biological father and his expectancies regarding a mentor relationship The third major aspect is the adolescent boy's experience of his biological father, the influence of an alternative father figure, namely the mentor, and the affect of the mentor relationship. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Mentoring has been found to be an effective psychosocial buffer to occupational stress (Chao & Walz, 1992; Noe, 1988; Siege1 & Reinstein, 2001). Mentoring provides support for personal confirmation, acceptance, friendship and role modelling (Kram 1985, 1986) The current study was part of an initiative within the New Zealand Police to introduce mentoring as part of a supported induction for new Police Constables into the organisation. The aim was to evaluate the use of mentoring as a psychosocial support in this induction process. Using a Solomon Four Group design the 254 subjects (180 protégé(e)s and 74 mentors) were randomly assigned to four groups. These groups were (i) those who had a pre-test, assigned a mentor and post test (ii) those who had a pre-test and post test (iii) those who had a mentor and a post test (iv) those who had a post test only. Testing included two questionnaires; a Combined Measures Questionnaire – which incorporated six psychometric tests including BDI, BHS, MHI, CMTS, HSCL-21 and ITQ; and a Mentor Relationship Questionnaire. The former was administered at pre- and post- test in accordance with the experimental design while the later [i.e. latter] was only administered at the end of the mentoring programme. There was no clinically significant effect noted in terms of change in psychological well-being or distress for either protégé(e)s or mentors (p > .05). There was a significant effect of mentoring in terms of an increase in intent to quit, F(1,10) = 7.43, p = .02 and a trend toward significance for decreased general distress levels F(1,10) = 4.80, p = .53 for the mentors at the end of the experimental period. These findings are tempered by a small control group (n=2). The main finding of this study was that positive outcomes were reported about the mentor relationship, on the Mentoring Relationship Questionnaire, from both protégé(e)s and mentors. These results were achieved in less than three sessions. From these findings it may be concluded that there is a place for a formal mentoring programme in the induction process of the New Zealand Police organisation.

Mentoring is a common element of new teacher induction aimed at easing beginning teachers' entry into the profession and assisting beginning teacher growth and development. Previous research has shown that mentors are comfortable supporting beginning teachers but are reluctant to provide challenge-activities that will help beginning teachers improve their practice. For optimal growth to occur, mentors should balance support and challenge in their work with beginning teachers. This descriptive study employed multiple cases to examine the relationship of two junior high school mentors with their mentees. The mentors in this study work in a school district with an established and highly supportive mentoring program. Each mentor has received extensive preparation and ongoing support for their mentoring efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine how mentors balanced support and challenge in order to assist their mentees' growth. The relationships of two mentors, working with two beginning teachers each, were examined for elements of support and challenge as well as the ways in which the mentors and mentees positioned each other and were positioned. The mentors in this study strongly favored challenge over support in their interactions with their mentees. Although there were many similarities among the mentoring activities and conversations with the beginning teachers, each mentor had her own mentoring style and adapted their mentoring to meet the needs of the individual beginning teachers with whom she worked. One might expect challenge to be critical or negative, but the challenge found in this study was more nuanced and complex. The nurturing challenge found in this study was paired with support in such a way that the beginning teachers were not overwhelmed by the feedback they received. While the institutional expectations of mentors influenced how they positioned themselves in relation to the mentees, mentors also attempted to position mentees in a position of power within their own classrooms and with respect to their own development as beginning teachers. While at times both mentors and mentees resisted being in the position of dominance, for a majority of the interactions both parties accepted the institutional positions prescribed by the district program.