Mentor–Mentee Relationship Benefits: Research Discussion

Overview of Research Findings

The overall perspective toward mentoring was highly positive among both mentors and mentees, with most participants in both groups listing several specific areas of their lives in which the mentoring relationship had a direct beneficial effect. This is consistent with previous scholarly research conducted in medical mentor programs, which found improvements in quantitatively assessed knowledge and skill as well as in personal and social development among those who participated in a mentorship program (Tahrian & Shekarchian, 2008; Stenfors-Hayes & Kalen, 2010; Coates, 2012). It is noteworthy that many of the personal development outcomes and the noted sense of accomplishment and achievement in mentorship programs — both those studied here and those examined in other research projects and literature — suggest a direct connection between personal satisfaction and career or employment achievement. This could be seen as an affirmation of the framework of personal progression and attainment suggested by Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Lumadue & Danforth, 2010; Stenfors-Hayes & Kalen, 2010; Coates, 2012). Seen in this light, mentoring helps to fulfill personal needs of development, attainment, and fulfillment for both mentors and mentees through experience and explicit — as well as implicit — instruction (Lumadue & Danforth, 2010).

Placed in this framework, the research findings uphold previous knowledge regarding mentor and mentee relationship benefits while also suggesting more personal and qualitative narratives than are easily found in the current literature. The specific articulation of benefits perceived and felt during the mentoring process should provide ample grounds for further research and investigation of the mechanisms that actually underlie the creation of personal advancement and progress in these relationships. The emergence of clear themes in thinking and reflection on the mentoring relationship also adds valuable information to the current store of knowledge on the topic, providing concrete areas for further exploration, definition, and delineation. That communication was seen as a key element of the mentor/mentee relationship is perhaps not surprising, but the role that effective communication played in the personal and internal development of both mentors and mentees is a novel and significant finding. Given the small sample size and the relatively limited structure of the research as a whole — including the lack of longitudinal development and single-session interviewing — it would be premature to generalize these findings or draw practical implications from them. However, the consistency and clarity of the responses in this regard are certainly worthy of consideration.

The general and specific benefits experienced in mentor and mentee relationships have a great deal of import for motivations to engage in mentoring programs, both by providing examples of benefits to those outside the program and by encouraging ongoing participation among those directly involved (Ragins, 2009; Banerjee, 2012). A direct relationship links the professional and personal development benefits of mentoring to positive identifications with mentoring, and thus to the motivation to mentor (Ragins, 2009; Banerjee, 2012). The direct relationship between personal and professional development for both mentors and mentees, as affirmed in this research, is highly relevant to motivational issues.

Communication in the Mentor–Mentee Relationship

Other particular trends emerged in the various themes identified that are also worthy of comment. Though some of the themes identified by the interviewer in responses and discussions from both mentors and mentees are rather expected and simply reaffirm many basic findings regarding mentoring relationships, certain findings and implications within these trends warrant further discussion and identify specific areas for future research. The following discussion is not intended to provide reliable conclusions, given the limitations of the study described above, but rather to present preliminary findings and suggest new lines of inquiry.

Among both mentors and mentees, communication emerged as a specific theme of understanding and deriving benefit from the mentor/mentee relationship — both in facilitating the relationship itself and in potentially building better communicative capabilities and appreciations more generally. This was evident in explicit mentions of communication ease as well as in references to the technologies and processes used for communication, all of which were cited as benefits. Research on mentoring relationships has suggested that increased connectivity between mentors and mentees can offset some of the drawbacks caused by reduced in-person meetings and communications (Mueller, 2004). The encouragement and positive regard with which communicative abilities and technologies were held by mentors and mentees in this study is indicative of a potential motivating factor for program participation.

Knowledge Transfer Between Mentors and Mentees

There is also indirect evidence that communication was facilitated in a broader sense, with the social connectivity and the security and confidence established by the mentor/mentee relationship easing other relationships and helping participants — especially mentees — become more engaged in the overall social and professional relationships of university life. In this way, the communication benefits of the mentor/mentee relationship might extend well beyond the relationship itself, further denoting indirect benefits in terms of personal and professional development and growth. These benefits would be clearly influential in motivating active participation in mentoring programs; however, further research would be required to more reliably establish the extent of these benefits and the mechanisms of their creation.

Knowledge transfer and information sharing are among the most concrete, straightforward, and explicit elements of almost any mentor-mentee relationship, and could be considered the foundation and fundamental purpose of such relationships (Swap et al., 2001). Even outside of explicit mentoring relationships, knowledge transfer is seen as a direct benefit and a motivating factor in seeking out many professional and collegial relationships, and evidence clearly shows that a variety of benefits can be obtained via relationships and interactions that are explicitly built on some level of knowledge transfer (Swap et al., 2001). The degree to which knowledgeability and the capability to transfer and acquire knowledge were cited as positive effects of the mentor/mentee relationship by respondents in this research is significant, especially as these were elements that respondents introduced into the discussion on their own.

The prevalence of this subject-originating theme is worthy of attention and consideration, though further research would be necessary to determine the actual mechanism by which this functions and to understand the full extent of the benefits created through such relationships and knowledge transfers. A differentiation between social knowledge and what might be considered professional or institutional knowledge — the concrete means of functioning in new environments — would also likely be worthwhile to pursue in this line of research.