Abstract
This article provides pedagogical activities to help develop students into “model mentees.” Being a competent mentee is especially significant for young women who aspire to executive-level management positions. The authors conducted a qualitative study of 14 executive-level women and gained insights into how mentoring relationships affected these women’s careers. For the past four semesters, the findings have been used to enhance the content of two business courses, and they were also used to improve the preparation of students who participated in a career-oriented business forum. Further research should be conducted to establish best practices for designing and integrating into business school curricula not just opportunities for students to connect with mentors but also the idea of being a model mentee, which is especially important for female undergraduates.
In addition to connections with potential workplace mentors, students need opportunities to practice being effective mentees. Being a competent mentee is particularly important for female undergraduates, whose career paths might be more challenging than those of their male classmates. Similar to the 2014 Searby model of the “protégé mentoring mindset,” our research revealed that a high-quality mentoring relationship requires the mentee to exhibit vital traits sought by the mentor, namely, proactivity and willingness to take direction. Business curricula in the United States neither commonly provide adequate coverage of the importance of mentoring nor are potential gender-based differences openly discussed and analyzed in class and in experiential learning assignments at the undergraduate level. Tacit and undocumented knowledge regarding the various possible forms of workplace mentoring should be incorporated into the curriculum. Combining contemporary, workplace-focused mentoring theories and models with authentic opportunities to practice becoming a model mentee—either within a course or across an entire degree program—will help female students mold themselves into the type of mentee who will be noticed by those willing to invest time and energy in a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship. This article presents actions that have been taken by the authors to address this omission in the curriculum.
Description of the Issue
Although the gender gap in the executive suite is well-documented (Burke & McKeen, 1990; Ibarra, Carter, & Silva, 2010; Mills & Grotto, 2017; Ragins, Townsend, & Mattis, 1998; Stevenson, 2016), higher education’s response to this disparity is less evident in the literature. In her positions both within the career services department and as a faculty member in the business school of a small, liberal arts college, the first author of this article has wanted to understand why female alumnae do not consistently advance to executive-level positions reflective of their potential, aspirations, and academic performance.
Mentoring, according to Ragins and Kram (2007), is “a developmental relationship that is embedded within the career context” (p. 5). During the first author’s years working in career services, she placed hundreds of ambitious young women into corporate roles; however, their progression to upper-level management positions has been rare. This fact prompted both authors to engage in a small, qualitative study to investigate the role mentoring has played in the career success of female executives. In 2016, the authors interviewed 14 women who had reached executive-level positions, who are alumnae or are otherwise affiliated with the authors’ institution, and who are working in male-dominated business fields (Table 1). The study’s semistructured interviews revealed that proactivity and being teachable were characteristics the subjects realized they had exhibited as mentees and that, as mentors, they now seek in potential mentees (Table 2). For these established career women, being a “model mentee” was crucial to career advancement. In the words of one research subject, “No one teaches you how to find a mentor” or, it would seem, how to be a mentee.
Study Participants, Identified by Employing Industry, Professional Title, and Years of Managerial Experience.
Mentees: Inductive Codes Positively Mentioned by Research Subjects, in Order of Frequency.
The Practice
In class, when asked to describe “mentoring,” students expressed the stereotypical scenario of an older, experienced mentor dispensing sage advice and paving a career path for the mentee. Students are surprised to hear that the mentee, not the mentor, is responsible for the relationship’s progress and outcomes. In addition, our research subjects also revealed evidence of engagement in relational mentoring (Fletcher & Ragins, 2007; Ragins, 2012), and the informal, networked peer mentoring that arises in the workplace. Directly contradicting the stereotypical view of the mentor-mentee dyad had a powerful effect on female students. The suggestions we provide arose from and are based on our research study’s findings. The following section provides activities and strategies for faculty to expand their students’ opportunities for rich and effective mentoring experiences.
Inform Students That Mentoring Is About Creating Long-Term Relationships
Straightforward discussion with students is important in the context of our institution, which is a small, private college, with a student body heavily drawn from the local area. When seeking inspirational female role models for our students, the gender imbalance is pronounced. Conveying the experiences of the research subjects to our students has been invaluable. Contemporary forms of mentoring and mentoring opportunities need to be disclosed and discussed. While still undergraduates, young women need to know that their workplace mentors are likely to be peers within the organization, peers outside the organization, and external informal or formally organized groups of peers, such as local, regional, or national “women in business” associations. Relational mentoring (Fletcher & Ragins, 2007; Ragins & Verbos, 2007) is a gendered approach to mentoring that more accurately describes the lived experiences of the women in our study. Informal, peer mentoring has also been cited as crucial for women aspiring to leadership roles (Janssen, Vuuren, & Jong, 2016). The research participants gave a voice to the topics of leadership, teamwork, communication, and emotional intelligence. These views from female executives illustrate the nuances of high-quality mentoring relationships, which surpass the basic career coaching that students often equate with mentoring.
I’m still using the word friend-colleague . . . not mentor, because it’s definitely more of an equal, flowing, just friendship. Talking about many things, not just work. I, my personal opinion is the informal mentoring relationship is much, much, much more beneficial and effective. . . . I’m seeking it out—both of us are seeking out this relationship.
To get started:
Spark class discussion via stories of successful alumnae who have described to you the impact mentoring relationships have had on their careers.
Coordinate with career services to conduct workshops outlining proactive mentee behavior, aimed specifically at female students. Professional development workshops or seminars might already impart information about various companies and industries and provide networking opportunities, but less common topics include how to behave when a mentor emerges from networking activities.
Describe the forms that mentoring relationships take in the workplace so that young women can aim for more than a coach or workplace champion. Emphasize that the formal career coaching that often occurs with onboarding in the workplace is not necessarily going to develop into the informal, high-quality relational mentoring that provides sustained support.
Create Opportunities for Students to Connect With Individuals Willing to Establish Authentic Mentoring Relationships
At our college, an important annual event referred to as the “Business Forum” connects students with willing mentors. The Business Forum is the result of collaboration between the Business School and the Office of Career Planning. Students are matched with mentors according to the student’s major and mentor résumés. Although there are more male than female mentors available, as many female students as possible are matched with female mentors working in the students’ chosen fields.
Encourage students to join professional organizations that offer mentoring opportunities and supportive communities of practice, such as the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance (https://www.afwa.org/). Many organizations offer student memberships and model the networked character of professional-level peer mentoring in the workplace.
Leverage service learning to promote engagement in volunteer and community activities. Research Subject 1 described how one of her most influential mentors was found in this informal manner.
Embed Mentoring Into Course Assignments
Beyond simply being introduced to a mentor via formal college activities, classroom-based opportunities for students to practice model mentee behavior can maximize the value of these relationships. This strategy, which provides the students an opportunity to practice the model mentee behaviors discussed in class, has been well-received. Each semester, students remarked that the exercise was beneficial and recommended that it be retained as part of the course. Following is a description of the semester-long assignment.
Students were tasked with identifying a potential mentor and submitting a write-up about the mentor. During the semester, students were required to meet with their mentor three times, either face-to-face or via video conferencing. After each meeting, the student submitted a written summary and reflection on what had been learned from the encounter. At the end of the semester, students shared their reflections with the class, augmenting the learning experience for all. Self-reflections from current female students follow, capturing the depth of the connections the students were able to forge as a result of their proactive mentee behaviors.
Through this first mentoring experience, I learned a great deal of information, not only about business, but about life in general. . . . I am sure that the next mentoring meeting will provide me another opportunity to gain more knowledge about the life of an entrepreneur. (Student 1) Over the past few months, I have been meeting with my mentor to discuss my career plans and review my résumé, as well as learn more about my mentor’s experience in the workforce. The mentoring project has not only given me the opportunity to learn more about my mentor in a professional sense, but also learn valuable lessons that can prepare me for the workforce. (Student 2) His final piece of advice was to be a sponge and absorb as much information as possible but also to be a barnacle and attach yourself to someone who is doing the job you dream of doing. (Student 3)
The statement that the Student 1 learned “about life in general” is reflective of the deep and continuous connection that can lead to the high-quality mentoring relationship described by Ragins (2016). Student 3’s mentor provided the advice that one should “be a sponge” and also “be a barnacle.” These statements reflect the qualities of teach-ability and proactivity most sought by mentors in their mentees.
Require Students to Engage in Internships/Externships/Experiential Learning
Our study’s findings emphasize that the mentoring relationship will not be fully realized unless the mentee is proactive and teachable. Since internships can be a source of mentors, the requirement to document and report instances of “model mentee” behavior enforces conscious action and reflection on the part of the student mentee. For instance, students should:
Ask for additional and challenging work assignments to assist the mentor
Be conscientious, follow-up
Enact a respectful, positive attitude
Exceed minimum expectations.
Connections to the Literature and Future Research Directions
The underlying issue of gender in the workplace provides a multifaceted research agenda focused on enacting changes in undergraduate management and organizational behavior education by devising best practices for integrating gender and mentoring into the core business curriculum. Undergraduate coursework and classroom instructor behaviors (Lawson, Kooiman, & Kuchta, 2018), experiential learning, and subsequent career placement are intertwined; each thread creates opportunities for deeper exploration of the shapes of contemporary mentoring relationships and what young women need to know and do in order to create high-quality mentoring experiences for themselves.
Although research about mentoring has been conducted with graduate students and with women who have already launched their careers, there is a dearth of research focused on how to integrate the topic of mentoring into undergraduate education. Bear (2016) reports on a rare, undergraduate course developed at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where the learning outcomes “demonstrate an understanding of how to build social capital by adapting to organizational culture, building a strong relationship with their manager, obtaining mentors and sponsors, and engaging in workplace networking” (p. 80). Smith-Ruig’s (2014) article about the participant-reported benefits of a female-focused, work-integrated learning mentoring program in Australia provides a model for curricular change and a foundation for further research into the critical success factors that constitute similar experiential learning programs.
Liang, Tracey, Taylor, and Williams (2002) focused on the mentoring of college women and found that relational mentoring has a strong and positive influence on the success of this population. Female students should be made aware of the psychological empowerment relational mentoring can foster (Fullick-Jagiela, Verbos, & Weise, 2015), which in turn can yield additional high-quality relational mentoring connections. Integrating relational mentoring theory into curricular or cocurricular learning activities can build awareness of this form of mentoring before young women enter the workplace, so more energy can immediately be used to create these networks.
Gender-matching in the mentoring relationship regarding women in male-dominated professions is another unresolved issue. Although gender matching and formal mentoring programs seemed to be quite beneficial for newer hires, female mentees who have been informally selected by male mentors “have the most successful career strategy” (Guthrie & Jones, 2017, p. 142). Longitudinal research on this dimension of gender and mentoring would inform classroom practice and curricular change.
By extending our research, educators can create opportunities for young women to enact the model mentee behaviors of proactivity and willingness to learn. Female students will not only climb the ladder of career success but will also be among those who, in the words of Searby, Ballenger, and Tripses (2015), will then “hold the ladder” for other women to follow.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Linda Searby for her kind encouragement and for her support of our research.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
