Applying methodological innovation to explore generativity development among collegiate leadership mentors

Abstract

PurposeBuilding upon a larger mixed-methods research agenda, the purpose of this research study was to explore the growth of generativity (i.e. care for the next generation) among college student leaders who mentor, answering the central question “What changes in generativity do college student leaders who mentor associate with their mentoring experience, and why?” and associated sub-question “How does generativity develop among college student leaders who mentor?”Design/methodology/approachApplying methodological innovation to a phenomenological design, semi-structured interviews were conducted and triangulated with pictorial degree-of-change graphs among 33 collegiate leadership mentors at a large Midwestern USA land-grant university.FindingsThe findings indicated that senior collegiate leadership mentors overwhelmingly acknowledged sustained generativity increases as a result of mentoring a younger student when given the tools, environment to process and time needed to develop trusting investment relationships. These increases in generativity were associated with changes in their understanding of generativity, the desire to pass on the knowledge given to them and growth in both mentor and mentee.Originality/valueFindings from the current study advance mentoring research and practice by providing a deeper understanding of mentoring as a developmental intervention, informing antecedents of generativity and utilizing innovative qualitative methodological techniques.

Emerging from the Fog: Reimagining Leadership and Generativity

“…As Gigliotti (2024) stated, we are continually transitioning and transforming in our current world. Where connecting older and younger generations through care has been the focus of generative behaviors (Imada, 2004), as we shift from the major multiple crisis we have endured to post‐crisis, we need to think about how we repeatedly center care rather than control in moving forward (Hastings et al., 2024). Reflecting on the purpose of generativity and why it is important helps situate the need to reconceptualize it for increasing the potential positive impact generativity can have.…”

Undergraduate Students as Both Mentors and Mentees

“…The reciprocity associated with mentoring relationships allows undergraduate students to significantly grow and develop not only from mentee experiences but also from mentoring experiences. Broadly, mentors experience growth outcomes such as heightened pride and satisfaction, refined leadership competencies, higher degrees of confidence, improved job performance, enhanced generativity, as well as enriched cultural competence, behavioral cultural intelligence, empathetic concern, and competency related to interacting with diversity among intercultural mentors (Hastings et al, 2015(Hastings et al, , 2023Lockwood et al, 2010;Osula & Irvin, 2009;Young et al, 2018). Specific to undergraduate students, recent research has examined how generativity, defined as care and concern for the next generation, develops in collegiate mentors (Hastings et al, 2015(Hastings et al, , 2023.…”

“…Subsequent growth curve analyses using multilevel modeling demonstrated that collegiate leadership mentors experienced growth in generative behavior over 2 years . A concurrent qualitative exploration within the same population (Hastings et al, 2023) offered a nuanced understanding of the growth of generativity, where undergraduate leadership mentors not only acknowledged and attributed generativity growth to their mentoring experience but also clarified the dimension and structure of that generativity development in a mentoring context by indicating that generativity develops not just to a higher point, but in a cyclical pattern that resembles a ripple effect.…”

“…Similarly, meta-analyses on the impacts of mentoring programs in youth, academic, and workplace contexts (DuBois et al, 2011;Eby et al, 2013) neither mention generativity nor list it as a stated outcome. However, considering mentoring's association with generativity (Doerwald et al, 2015(Doerwald et al, , 2021Hastings et al, 2015Hastings et al, , 2023, establishing generativity and generativity development as a stated outcome of undergraduate mentoring programs could enhance the precision of documenting mentoring's impact as well as the role of mentoring in developing leadership and social responsibility in undergraduate students.…”

“…Undergraduate students are in the unique position to experience mentoring from both the perspective of the mentor and the mentee, all within the confines of one four-to-six-year period. This polyperspective experience (i.e., experiencing a phenomenon from multiple perspectives) in mentoring is notable considering mentoring's acknowledgment as one of the most promising vehicles for leader and leadership development (LD; Day, 2001, DeRue & Myers, 2014, especially among higher education scholars (Crisp & Alvarado-Young, 2018;Dugan & Komives, 2010;Fine, 2021;Hastings et al, 2015Hastings et al, , 2023Hastings & Kane, 2018;Hastings & Sunderman, 2020;Komives et al, 2009;Lin et al, 2016;. Why is this?…”