Literature Review
Mentoring – history foundation of the relationship
The action of mentoring and building of the relationship can be historically traced back to Homer’s legend of the Trojan War told through the poem the Odyssey, when Odysseus left his son Telemachus and wife Penelope to be looked after by his friend Mentor, which is also the Greek origin of the modern word mentor. Mentor’s responsibility included the child’s education but also shaping his character, the wisdom of his decisions and the clarity of the steadfastness of his purpose (Barondess, 1995; Homer, 1963). Much like Mentor’s role in the tale of Homer’s Odyssey, mentors in organizations build relationships that go beyond only teaching the functions of the job but have an impact on the protégé or mentee’s knowledge, skills, and growth within the company and personally.
Kram (1983) provides a foundational understanding of the phase model in how mentor relationships move through initiation, cultivation, separation, and redefinition of the relationship that is significant in enhancing development in the mentor/mentee relationship that is shaped by the surrounding organizational circumstances. Researchers Scandura and Ragins (1993) build on Kram’s organizational mentoring research by explaining three varying types of guidance that manifest in the mentoring support functions- vocational support, psychosocial-support, and role modeling. By progressing through the experiences as a mentee, the relationship with the mentor enhances both individuals with the goal for the mentee to gain autonomy and gain career-advancing experiences (Kram, 1983). The cultivation of relationships is uniquely different from a cross-gender and across race relationship perspectives leading to multiple researchers to identify the need for continual research on the implication of race and gender within the practice of mentoring relationships (Alvarez & Lazzari, 2016; Kram, 1983; Weinberg & Lanlau, 2011). Mentoring can be viewed as organizational citizenship behaviors which build team effectiveness (Janssen, Tahitu, van Vuure & de Jong, 2018). For Black women the intersection of gender and race affects their experience of being mentored, the relationships forged, and career advancing opportunities that are available to them.
Mentoring relationships defined
Mentoring has been the focus of much research for the past decade in the field of education (Colley, 2002; Zambrana, Ray, Espino, Douthirt, Cohen& Eliason, 2015), human resource (Germain, 2011; Madera, 2013; Tolar, 2012), behavioral sciences (Alzarez & Lazzari 2016), and organizational studies (Kurtulus & Tomaskovic-Devey, 2012; Weinberg & Lankau, 2011). Differentiation has been acknowledged in the types of mentoring relationships, and it is essential throughout this research to understand the context in which the mentor relationship is being discussed and how it affects those involved. The presence of a mentor can take shape in a mentee’s life as a formal mentor or as an informal mentor. Ragins, Cotton, & Miller (2000) identify that formal mentor relationships develop with the organization’s assistance, are time specific and intervention that forms through matching. Weinberg and Lanka (2011), recognize informal mentors do not have a level of accountability to meet time constraints in the relationship as well as this is a relationship that occurs and develops naturally within the organization.
Zambrana et al., (2015) study examine the formal mentoring program designed to investigate the experience of 58 underrepresented minority faculty members, with the finding being that the participants reported they felt they experienced inadequate and career impeding mentoring experiences. The experience of being mentored leads to the need to measure the effective mentoring, the knowledge transfer of norms and behaviors and contributes to the accumulation of social and institutional capital (Few, Stephens, Rouse-Arnett, 2003). In the formation of formal mentoring programs race and gender need to be taken into consideration to meet the needs of the minority participates or the positive benefits of mentor relationships will become a deterrent for the person due to the discrimination, sexism, and marginalization that could be experienced. The finds of the research highlight that the effectiveness of the mentoring experience for the minority mentee includes the mentor present with mutual respect, awareness of historical marginalization and acknowledgment of the past barriers (Zambrana et al., 2015).
Boseman and Feeney (2007), examine mentoring from a theoretical perspective to use it in a way that aims to provide a practical finding that is relevant to individual and social needs. As a definition, these researchers identify that the concepts that are often offered as definitions for mentoring, tend to be more descriptive of the attributes of mentoring rather than a definitive the actual conceptualization of mentoring. Freedman (2009) research identifies that mentoring definitions are defined and theorized in two categories 1.) career, which describes specific behaviors that support the mentee’s career success and 2.) psychosocial, which refers to the personal aspects of the developed relationships to promote the mentee’s professional identity and self-confidence. Since the late 1980’s, research on mentoring has focused on the organizational benefits of mentoring.
Young and Perrewe (2000) study on mentoring focuses the term on a more formal development of relationships between senior and junior members of the organization through socialization and career development amongst the employees. Thus, focusing on the importance of developing relationships through action. Germain (2011) research expands Scandura and Pellegrini’s (2004) research by using attachment theory to conceptualize individual attachment styles to explain the functionality of mentor-protégé matching in organizational settings. In the definitions of mentoring, whether it is theoretical or formal classifications, the familiar aspects of the explanation are the development of a relationship and where knowledge is exchanged.
Formal mentoring in comparison to informal mentoring
Formal mentoring programs are often used to help in developing early career professionals, however the use of mentoring programs, do not only provide benefits to the mentee but to the mentor, (i.e., intrinsic satisfaction, benefit from learning from the mentee enjoy the respect and the mentee, and the development of the relationship can enhance their careers) and the organization (i.e. employee integration, material succession, and reduces turnover) (Chao, 2009; Menges, 2015). When organizations establish formal mentoring programs, they identify a specific person to be the mentor to the junior staff member, and provide specific guidelines the designated mentor is to follow (Gibbs, 1999; Raggin, Cotton, & Miller, 2000). In the relationship functions between the mentor and the mentee, the mentee is not to be passive, but they have a responsibility to be active in shaping the relationship (Germain, 2011; Hezlett & Gibson, 2005). Formal mentoring is a derivative of informal mentoring practices.
Informal mentoring relationships have characteristics that spontaneously develop between two voluntary participants who select each other for the development of a relationship (Allen, Eby, & Lentz, 2006). Informal mentoring experiences consist of similar characteristics allowing for the transfer of knowledge and organizational norms. However, there is less accountability, structure and time focus than formal mentoring programs. Researchers tend to focus on how formal and informal mentoring relationships differ in how they are formed and the length of the encounter, however less research has been completed on whether formal and informal mentoring relationships differ in determining the functions of mentors or the career outcomes of the mentee in the contrasting types of relationships (Raggins & Cotton, 1999, Feeney & Bozeman, 2008).
Literature suggests that there are noted characteristics of informal mentoring features. Joshi and Sikdar (2015) confirmatory factor analysis focused on organizational specific informal mentoring after using data from 311 managerial level employees in India to produce four informal mentoring characteristics, sincerity, commitment, skill, and knowledge, which are perceived significant by the mentee for effectiveness in the mentoring experience. Desimone, Hochberg, Porter, Polikoff, Schwartz & Johnson, (2014) five year longitudinal, mixed method research focused on novice teacher learning suggests that informal mentors have a substantial role in teacher learning in relation to formal mentoring, with the finding suggesting that informal and formal mentoring practices serve similar functions as well as providing compensatory and support that is complementary to the support of the mentee. Though these two studies vary geographically, the common function in both identifies that informal mentoring experiences have a root in the cultivation of relationships to provide positive experiences for the growth of the mentee. The advancement is an interactive approach by the mentor and the mentee and whether it is in a formal or informal mentoring setting.
Black women’s identity and mentorship
Foundational research has provided substantial evidence that mentoring, be it formal or informal has had a positive outcome in various organizational environments. When examining mentoring from a gender-based perspective, Clutterbuck and Megginson (2007) research builds on Clutterbuck and Devine (1987) research to identify that formal mentoring has been a historical norm for executives and directors and further reports the important that a high proportion women executives find significant correlation that mentoring provides them with self-confidence and self-images to seek advancement, increases visibility to top managers, and includes knowledge of how to manage organizational politics. However, Gibson et al., (2017) research identify that men tend to be recognized as better selections for upper management and women’s education and leadership ability are discounted, thus perpetuating the stereotypes that women are not deemed capable of working at higher levels of leadership, increasing the leadership gap.
Bias, racism, and sexism are common themes present in the literature focused on Black women and being selected for formal mentoring experiences (Bova, 1998; Curtis, 2017; Davis, 2003; Jean-Marie, Williams, & Sherman, 2009). Each of the previously mentioned structures is based on a structure of power. Ragins and Sundstrom (1989) research, it is identified that power within-gender differences is a reflection of the divergent paths to the access to power which differs for men than women, with women having more obstacles and fewer strategies for advancement than men. Within the mentoring relationship, women do not always have positive experiences due to the power dynamics in the relationship. Research on cross-gender mentoring has identified that within the pairing resentment and the speculation of sexual inappropriateness that takes place between the co-workers, has been identified as damaging factors that are detrimental to the success of the mentee (Donaldson, Ensher, & Grant-Vallone, 2000). When Black women are paired with mentors, they tend to be white and male which is a reflection of the leadership structure of organizations.
Stereotypes have been defined as “widely shared beliefs about the attributes of a social group” (Kleider-Offutt, Bond, & Hegerty, 2017, p. 28). These stereotypes influence the judgments and how people are categorized positively or negatively to fit into a specific group (Kleider-Offutt et al., 2017). Literature from an intersectional approach, identifies that Black women in positions of being mentored face intrapersonal challenges of being the Black face in a sea of workers that do not look like them and carry the burden of making those faces feel comfortable or risk missing out on networking opportunities, building career advancing relationships, and being automatically discounted for being Black and female (Ngunjiri & Hernadez, 2017).
Mentoring quality can predict the worker’s organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors. Literature has reported multiple findings that Black women who are in leadership positions and/or in mentoring positions report feeling vulnerable to disadvantages of being left out and ignored, which increases marginalization and the diversity language of mentoring continues to be male focused and ethnically white (Curtis, 2017; Crawley, 2006; Jean-Marie et al., 2009). Research has an established gap of a limited amount of examining the experiences of Black women as leaders that function in predominantly white organizations (Byrd, 2009; Chemers, 1997) as well as there experiences in the leader development experience of mentorship (Blake-Beard, 1999; Davis & Harper, 2003; Murphy-Bova, 1998). This becomes a relevant problem because traditional and dominant leadership theories have been questioned if they are adequately addressing the African American female leadership experience regarding intersectionality that speaks to the inclusiveness of race, gender, and social class (Byrd, 2009).
Intersectionality
- Introduction
- Intersectionality as a framework
- Representational Intersectionality
- Intersectionality, BW and the workplace
- Intersectionality- occupational segregation
- Intersectionality- career advancement programs
- Intersectionality- tokenism
- Intersectionality and Black women experience in developing leadership relationships
References
Allen, T., Eby, L., & Lentz, E. (2006). Mentorship and mentorship quality associated with formal mentoring programs: Closing the gap between research and practice. American Psychological Association, 91(3), 567-578.
Alvaraz, A., & Lazzari, M. (2016). Feminist mentoring and relational cultural theory: A case example and implications. Journal of Women and Social Work, 31(1), 41-54.
Barondess, J. A. (1995). A brief history of mentoring. Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, 106, 1-24.
Homer, Interpreted by Fitzgerald, R. (1963). The Odyssey. New York: Anchor/Doubleday.
Choa, G. (2009). Mentoring: Lessons learned from past practice. American Psychological Association, 40(3), 314-320.
Clutterbuck, D., & Megginson, D. (2007). Mentoring executives and directors. Routledge.
Colle, H. (2002). A rough guide to the history of mentoring from a Marxist feminist perspective. Journal of Education for Teaching, 28(3). 257-273.
Desimone, L., Hochberg, E., Porter, A., Polikoff, M., Schwartz, R. & Johnson, L. (2014). Formal and informal mentoring: Complementary, compensatory, or consistent? Journal of Teaching Education, 65(2), 88-110.
Donaldson, S., Ensher, E., Grant-Vallone, E. (2000). Longidudinal examination of mentoring relationships on organizational commitment and citizenship behavior. Journal of Career Development, 26(4), 233-249.
Gibb, S. (1999) The usefulness of theory: A case study in evaluating formal mentoring schemes. Human Relations, 52(8) 1055–1075.
Joshi, G. & Sikdar, C. (2015). A study of the mentee’s perspective of the informal mentor’s characteristics essential for mentoring success. Global Business Review, 16(6), 963-980.
Kram, K. E. (1983). Phases of the mentor relationship. Academy of Management journal, 26(4), 608-625.
Feeney, M. & Bozeman, B. (2008). Mentoring and network ties. Human Relations, 61(12), 1651-1676.
Few, A. L., Stephens, D. P., & Rouse-Arnett, M. (2003). Sister-to-sister talk: Transcending boundaries and challenges in qualitative research with Black women. Family Relation, 52(3), 205–215.
Freedman, S. (2009). Effective Mentoring. IFLA Journal, 35(2), 171-182.
Raggins, B., Sundstrom, E. (1989). Gender and power in organizations: A longitudinal perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 105(1), 51-88.
Ragins, B., Cotton, J., & Miller, J. (2000). Marginal mentoring : The effects of type of mentor, quality of relationship, and program design on worm and career attitude. Acadamey of Management Journal, 43(6), 1117-1194.
Scandura, T. A., & Ragins, B. R. (1993). The effects of sex and gender role orientation on mentorship in male-dominated occupations. Journal of vocational behavior, 43(3), 251-265.
Weinberg, F., & Lankau, M. (2011). Formal mentoring programs: A mentor-centric and longitudinal analysis. Journal of management, 37(6), 1527-1557.