Evidence on the Use of Mentoring Programs and Practices to Support Workplace Learning: A Systematic Multiple‐Studies Review

Abstract

entoring is described as a method to develop skills and knowledge for professional and career growth in academia as well as private-sector, government, nongovernmental, and nonprofit organizations. While mentoring has different contextual dimensions, its core foundation lies in the relationship between mentor and mentee (also referred to as protégé); it also involves the mentor's psychosocial support and ability to impart knowledge and skills to help the mentee make valuable professional connections and to offer the mentee access to career-development opportunities not previously accessible (Noe, 1988; Ragins & McFarlin, 1990). Mentoring promotes the transfer of knowledge, skills, and organizational acumen from a more experienced employee to a less experienced employee. "Organizations engage in mentoring for a number of reasons, many of which relate to the need to cultivate or manage knowledge and relationships" (Zachary, 2005, p. 2). Mentoring relationships can be formal or informal and are not limited to a specific area or geographic locations. In the workplace, mentoring can be used to cross the boundaries of diversity in gender, race, culture, and generation. It can be a cost-effective and often fluid method for developing employees outside of a classroom environment.

Benefits and challenges for hospital nurses engaged in formal mentoring programs: A systematic integrated review

“…In this review, mentoring is defined as a formal program initiated by an organization to enable a less experienced nurse to receive support for adapting into clinical practice from an experienced nurse (Jakubik et al, 2017). This definition is in line with the "formal mentoring model" developed by Giacumo et al (2020) based on a comprehensive systematic review of mentoring programs. This model explicitly explains the structures, resources, processes, and outcomes of a formal mentoring program as a triad relationship between the organization, the mentor, and the mentee (Giacumo et al, 2020).…”

“…Novices learn by observing their seniors and seeking advice when faced with dilemmas in the workplace. Informal mentoring, although helpful, lacks the organization's commitment, which is important for the retention of nurses in the workplace (Chamberlain et al., 2019; Giacumo et al., 2020). In this review, mentoring is defined as a formal program initiated by an organization to enable a less experienced nurse to receive support for adapting into clinical practice from an experienced nurse (Jakubik et al., 2017).…”

Exploring the benefits and challenges of learning analytics in higher education institutions: a systematic literature review

“…In the meantime, Wang (2016) points out the technical and analytical challenges posed by enormous amounts of unstructured data when using a scalable approach to improve students' learning. Additionally, there is little evidence for the effective use of big data analytic methodologies (Giacumo and Bremen, 2016). Issues related to data analysis such as scalability and lack of evidence that learning analytics methodologies are effectively used can be categorized under research-related challenges.…”

Are employability and entrepreneurial measures for higher education relevant? Introducing AGILE reflection

“…However, at the same time, the studies pointed to negative outcomes which need to be paid attention to, such as the effects of increased competition, task evaluation difficulties, and design features. (Hamari et al, 2014: 3028)Such a self-populated system would generate potential sets of big data, which could be used to evaluate ‘learner analytics’, similar to systems used by employers in the corporate world (Giacumo and Breman, 2016; Perryer et al, 2016). Used effectively, such data could provide a basis on which to stimulate more immediate one-to-one conversations between students and personal tutors, highlighting where patterns of behaviour might be contributing towards lower performance.…”