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Mentoring Functions: A Contemporary View of the Perceptions of Mentees and Mentors
Author(s) -
Fowler Jane L.,
O'Gorman John G.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2005.00439.x
Subject(s) - confirmatory factor analysis , psychology , sample (material) , perception , principal (computer security) , applied psychology , social psychology , medical education , structural equation modeling , medicine , computer science , statistics , mathematics , chemistry , chromatography , neuroscience , operating system
The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing mentoring based in contemporary organizational life. In the first phase of the study, 24 mentees and 24 mentors were interviewed about their mentoring experience. In‐depth analysis of the interview data resulted in the development of an instrument to measure mentoring functions. In the second phase of the study, the instrument was tested for its factor structure using a large sample of 272 mentees and 228 mentors. A two‐phase statistical analysis, principal components analysis with one sample followed by confirmatory factor analysis with the other, revealed eight distinct functions of mentoring. Mentees and mentors were found to share similar perceptions about the mentoring functions that occur in their relationships. The results represent a thorough attempt to define and describe mentoring in a contemporary organizational environment.