Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 1

Abstract

The subject of this research paper is how mentoring in the workplace impacts people of

color. Mentoring is designed to help positively impact minorities and research of this

subject will help determine if the efforts have been successful. This research paper will

analyze published articles and books on workplace mentoring and its effect on minority

salaries, professional development and career advancement to determine how mentoring

impacts minorities.

Introduction

Problem Statement

Many organizations have introduced mentoring programs for employees. The evaluation

of minority employees individually (salaries, professional development and promotions)

will help determine the impact mentoring programs are having on people of color.

Why Is There A Need for Mentoring

There are now more new faces and diversity among the workforce than ever before and

this trend is expected to continue into the 21st century. Managers in public and private

organizations are searching for and experimenting with various approaches to more

effectively deal with increasing workforce diversity. (Diversity Management: Time for A

New Approach. Public Personnel Management | March 22, 2000 | Ivancevich, John M.;

Gilbert, Jacqueline A) The concept of diversity management has become deeply rooted in

the federal government and has received bipartisan support from both major political

parties. Broadly defined, the term diversity management refers to the systematic and

planned commitment by organizations to recruit, retain, reward, and promote a

heterogeneous mix of employees. (|pg. 1) There are two dominant schools of thought
Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 2

regarding diversity in the workplace. The first is the melting pot view. This view

suggests that those employees of different races, creeds and colors should assimilate and

blend together in a common national culture. The second view is multiculturalistic. This

view suggests that employees of different ethnic groups should keep their individualistic

cultural patterns and strive to coexist with one another (Ivancevich & Gilbert, 2000)

Many organizations have made concerted efforts to rid themselves of discriminatory

practices in hiring, salaries and promotions. The publication of Workplace 2000 by the

Hudson Institute portrayed dramatic demographic shifts in the United States. (5 [5] W.B.

Johnson & A.H. Packer, Workforce 2000: Work And Workers For The 21st Century,

(1987), Indianapolis: Hudson Institute.) Many advocates of diversity in the work place

base their beliefs on demographic census projections that show a rapidly changing

population. Needless to say based on this premise it is inevitable that the composition of

today’s workforce will continue to change. (Johnson & Packer).

What Is Mentoring?

Mentoring is a process that includes two variables, the mentor and the mentee. The

mentor is the seasoned employee. The mentee is the younger (in terms of years with the

company, not biological age) employee. Mentoring is a relationship which gives people

the opportunity to share their professional and personal skills and experiences, and to

grow and develop in the process. Typically, it is a one-to-one relationship between a

more experienced and a less experienced employee. It is based upon encouragement,

constructive comments, openness, mutual trust, respect and a willingness to learn and
http://www.eeo.nsw.gov.au/careers/mentor2. htm)
share. (Mentoring made easy A practical guide (2 nd Edition)

Mentor Functions
Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 3

A review of the literature examining mentor functions in four industry contexts

(academic, military, business, and military-academic) is followed by a comparative

analysis of the research similarities and differences among these contexts. (Essential

formal mentor characteristics and functions in governmental and non-governmental

organizations from the program administrator's and the mentor's perspective. Public

Personnel Management | March 22, 2005 | Smith, Wanda J.; Howard, Jerusalem T.;

Harrington, K. Vernard )

Academic Context

Academic mentors tend to carry out a blend of psychosocial and career-related functions.

(83 Green, S.G. & Bauer, T.N. 1995. Supervisory mentoring by advisers: Relationships

with doctoral student potential, productivity, and commitment. Personnel Psychology, 48:

537-561.) Psychosocial functions "enable a protege to clarify a sense of identity and

develop a greater sense of competence and self-worth." (84 Schockett, M.R. & Haring-

Hidore, M. 1985. Factor analytic support for psychosocial and vocational mentoring

functions. Psychological Reports, 57: 627-630.) Vocational (career-related) functions

focus more on the protege's occupational development. (85,86 85) Green & Bauer, 1995

(86 Jacobi, M. 1991. Mentoring and undergraduate academic success: A literature

review. Review of Educational Research, 61: 505-532.) Common psychosocial examples

found in the academic literature include role modeling, encouraging, counseling, and

befriending. (87,88 Taylor, L. 1997. Mentoring: A strategy for success. Wright State

University Center for Teaching and Learning, 5(5), March/April: 1-3. (88) Leon, D.J.

1993. Mentoring minorities in higher education: Passing the torch. (Report No. HE 026
Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 4

970). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 365-195). Examples of vocational

functions include: educating, consulting, sponsoring, and protecting. (89,90,91 ) Taylor,

1997

(90) Leon, 1993

(91) Blackburn, R.T., Chapman, D.W. & Cameron, S.M. 1981. "Cloning" in academe:
Mentorship and academic careers. Research in Higher Education, 15(4): 315-328.)

Business Context.

As noted earlier in this literature review, Kram's career functions are: sponsorship,

exposure and visibility, coaching, and protection. (93 Kram, 1985) These functions are

similar to Zey's mentor roles: (1) teaching, (2) organizational interventions, and (3)

sponsoring. (94 Zey, M.G. 1995. The mentor connection: Strategic alliances in corporate

life. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publisher.) The teaching function involves:

teaching the job, drawing the organizational road map, and giving career guidance. A

mentor's organizational intervention involves: protection, marketing, and access to

resources.

Military Context

Most literature about mentors in the military has centered on regulations establishing

mentor programs and has been anecdotal in nature. (95,96,97,98,99,100 Hasenauer, H.

1998. USMA mentors: Helping players succeed. Soldiers, September, pp. 28-29.

(96) Secretary of the Air Force. 1994. Air Force Instruction 36-2103. Individualized

Newcomer Treatment and Orientation (INTRO) Program. Washington, DC: Department

of Defense. 3-Jun-94, pp. 1-6. 97) Secretary of the Air Force. 1996. Air Force Policy
Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 5

Directive 36-34. Air Force Mentoring Program, Washington DC: Department of Defense,

p. 1-5. (98) Secretary of the Mr Force. 1997. Air Force Instruction 36-3401. Air Force

Mentoring. Washington, DC: Department of Defense, (July 1997, p. 1-10). (99)

Seitzinger, C.E. 1997. Mentoring means guarding and guiding. The Mercury, 24(6),

March: 11. (100) Welsh, D. 1998. WO mentor program expands to cut attrition. Army

Reserve, Summer: 9.) One exception, a survey of retired navy admirals, explored the

frequency, duration, nature, and significance of mentor relationships in their careers. (101

Huwe, 1999) This study's results indicate that 68 percent of the respondents had three or

more mentors during their careers. The relationships, for the most part, were informal in

nature with military officers who were older and in the respondents' chain of command.

The dearth of research on military mentors has resulted in practitioners' using leadership

traits as substitutes of desired mentor traits. For example, military doctrine has

established certain competencies for its leaders. Four required leadership competencies

are: communication skills, supervision, teaching and counseling, and professional ethics.

(102 TRADOC. 1990. FM 22-100, Military leadership. Washington DC: HQ Department

of the Army.)

Military-Academic Context.

This component consists of military (i.e., Army, Navy, and Air Force) personnel

stationed who are stationed at academic institutions. The central groups are: 1. active

duty student personnel whose mission is to complete their graduate degree in the time

allotted 2. Active duty 'support' personnel whose mission is to facilitate the undergraduate

education of a given university's corps of cadets. Examples of formal mentors for these
Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 6

personnel include the senior (highest ranking) student liaison officer, a professor of

military science, or the university corps commandant.

Types of Mentoring: Formal and Informal

Few would argue that there are distinct differences in formal and informal mentoring

relationships. One major difference lies in the initiation of the mentor/protege

relationship. (15 Ibid.) Informal mentorships are spontaneous and unstructured

relationships with minimal organizational involvement. Informal proteges generally have

proven they possess the 'right stuff' and are worthy of the attention that they are given by

their informal mentors. (16 Chao, Waltz, & Gardner, 1992) In contrast, formal mentoring

programs are officially recognized, sanctioned, and managed by the sponsoring

organization. (17 Russell, J.E.A., & Adams, D.M. 1997. The changing nature of

mentoring in organizations: An introduction to the special issue on mentoring in

organizations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51: 1-14.)There are two ways to mentor

employees, formal and informal. Formal systems are structured approaches to mentoring.

Formal mentoring systems are designed, planned and are an integral component of an

organizations human resource endeavors. Training for employees is often scheduled,

measured and monitored. Employees are often assigned mentors in formal mentoring

systems. Informal systems as the name implies are the exact opposite of formal

mentoring systems. These systems are anecdotal and unplanned. Employee training in

informal systems is unscheduled and not easily measured since specific mentors are not

assigned specific employees as in the formal system.

The Need for Mentoring “People of Color”

Mentoring in the Workplace: The Impact on People of Color 7

For many, many year’s racial discrimination in hiring, professional development, salary

and advancement prevented people of color from advancing in many organizations.

White Caucasian males were the race/sex of choice. People of color would only and

could only advance on the whims of Caucasian decision makers. This caused dissension

and low moral among employees. It also hurt organizations because they failed to get the

most out of their employees by limiting their opportunities. However, beginning in the

1980’s the value of people of color began to be recognized. From there mentoring

programs were developed by organizations looking to remove the baggage of racial

injustice and allow the organization to utilize all employees to their maximum potential.

This research paper will evaluate the impact mentoring programs have had on people of

color.