The sheer volume of literature on mentoring across a variety of disciplines is an indication of the high profile it has been afforded in recent years. This article draws on a structured analysis of more than 300 research-based articles on mentoring across three discipline areas in an attempt to make more valid inferences about the nature and outcomes of mentoring. It begins by reporting on the findings compiled from a database of research articles from educational contexts. These research-based articles are examined to determine the positive and more problematic outcomes of mentoring for the mentor, mentee, and the organization. A discussion of the findings from two other databases, namely, 151 research-based articles from business contexts and 82 articles from medical contexts, is provided, and commonalities across the three databases are highlighted. The article concludes with a discussion of key issues that administrators responsible for establishing mentoring programs should consider to maximize the experience of mentoring for all stakeholders.

This meta-analysis examines the relationship between the various self-measures and measures of performance and achievement. The statistical results of 128 studies are transformed to a common measure, namely, correlation coefficients. These studies represent a total sample of 202,823 persons and produce a data base of 1,136 correlations between self-ratings and performance measures. A range in the relationship of —.77 to .96 was reported with an “average” correlation of .21. It was found that this average relationship was modified by a number of variables. The more significant modifiers of the average relationship were the grade-level of subjects, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, ability of subjects, self-term used in the study, name of self-test used, type and name of performance/achievement measures, and the reliability of both the self-ratings and performance/achievement measures.

The clinical learning environment (CLE) is an interactive network of forces influencing student learning outcomes in the clinical setting. This study used mixed methods to identify factors characterizing students' perceptions of the CLE. The sample consisted of 229 undergraduate students in the second or third year of their biophysical nursing strand. The five subscales of the Clinical Learning Environment Scale, 'staff-student relationships', 'nurse manager commitment', 'patient relationships', 'student satisfaction' and 'hierarchy and ritual', were supported by qualitative data obtained from student interviews. Interpersonal relationships between the participants in the CLE were crucial to the development of a positive learning environment. Student satisfaction with the CLE was both a result of, and influential in creating, a positive learning environment. Nurse educators, clinical venues, and all others participating in the undergraduate nursing students' clinical education, must collaborate in order to create a CLE which promotes the development of well-educated registered nurses capable of providing safe, cost-effective patient care.

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:198285 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To draw on a structured review of the literature on formalised mentoring programs for principals with the purpose of exploring their nature and the positive and negative outcomes for the parties involved. Design/methodology/approach -The methodological approach utilised in this paper was a structured review of the literature which is a pre-determined set of criteria, namely a set of coding categories, used for analysing research papers. Forty research-based papers constituted the structured review and major coding categories utilised in this paper were positive and negative outcomes of mentoring programs for mentors and mentees and factual data relating to the research focus of the sample. Findings -Both positive and negative outcomes of mentoring were reported in the 40 research-based papers, with substantially more papers reporting positive outcomes. Frequently cited positive outcomes for mentees included support, sharing ideas and professional development, while, for mentors, networking, professional development and the opportunity to reflect were noted. Frequently cited negative outcomes for mentors and mentees were lack of time to undertake mentoring and personality or expertise mismatch. Practical implications -The findings highlight the necessity for planners of programs to ensure that mentors are trained; the matching process is executed to eliminate potential incompatibilities; and time for mentoring is factored into program implementation. Originality/value -The major contribution of the paper is that it makes a strong claim about the specific outcomes of mentoring programs for principals, thereby providing a clearer picture regarding its potential as well as its caveats.

Mentoring has received considerable coverage in recent decades and this is evident by the proliferation of research and popular literature covering the topic. It has been hailed as an important human resource management strategy, a career tool, and a workplace learning activity for men, women and minority groups in a variety of organizational settings such as hospitals, large corporations, schools, universities and government departments. In this puper we review the literature on this ubiquitous yet elusive concept. We begin by exploring what is meant by mentoring, the functions of mentors, three different categories of mentorship, and the benefits and hazards for the mentor, mentee and organization. In the final part of the paper we highlight some of the implications of setting up a formal mentoring program for human resource managers.