Impact of mentoring on practicing engineers: a meta-synthesis

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present a literature review to examine the career development outcomes on practicing engineering novices who are being mentored at work, and factors of mentoring that contribute to those career development outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Through a meta-synthesis, the research premises and findings of 12 articles identified through a systematic search of nine databases were examined and synthesized, to identify the most common career development outcomes and the most influential factors contributing to these outcomes. Findings The most common contributing factors were found to be job characteristics, career development mentoring support, psychosocial mentoring support and mentoring methods. The most frequent career outcomes were career satisfaction and promotion. Research limitations/implications The sample consisted of only 12 articles; however, according to the guidelines of meta-synthesis and Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP), the sample size was ideal. Further, articles were all of high or very high quality, and, in all studies, multiple contributing factors were measured to investigate the relationships among those factors and career outcomes. The factors and outcomes can be considered by researchers as study variables in future studies. Practical implications Organizations and practitioners can use factors that influence mentoring outcomes and the mentoring outcomes found in this study to develop more effective mentoring programs. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review of prior research regarding mentoring for practicing engineers. This paper allows researchers and practitioners to identify key findings and trends in past works, recognize research gaps and propose future research directions.

Mapping mentee outcomes in mentoring programs for managers

“…Some studies suggest that mentoring functions seem to translate into numerous mentee outcomes, such as career and job satisfaction, promotions, intention to stay, knowledge acquisition and organizational commitment (Chao et al , 1992; Wanberg et al , 2006; Wong et al , 2018).…”

“…Burke (1984) and Scandura (1992) proposed that RMwhen a mentor becomes a role model with values and behaviors that a mentee wants to emulateshould be a distinct function, expanding Kram's model into a three-function model. Some studies suggest that mentoring functions seem to translate into numerous mentee outcomes, such as career and job satisfaction, promotions, intention to stay, knowledge acquisition and organizational commitment (Chao et al, 1992;Wanberg et al, 2006;Wong et al, 2018).…”

“…How can they be classified and managed? Analyzing the extant literature on this topic, most articles address mentee outcomes in an exploratory way through meta-analysis (Eby et al ., 2013; Allen et al , 2017), meta-synthesis (Wong et al , 2018) or tackle the analysis of only some mentee outcomes (Fowler et al , 2019). However, there is still little systematic empirical research on this subject, particularly in the management field (Murrell et al , 2008).…”

Technological innovation management: understanding difficulties in an emerging country to enhance manufacturers performance

“…To conduct the literature review meta-synthesis analysis was used according to the guidelines of Catalano (2013), Hoon (2013), Siau and Long (2006), Wong et al (2018) and an application similar to Wong et al (2018). For this analysis, it is recommended to follow four phases: ( 1 Using the terms mentioned, articles were collected and selected in the phase called Studies selection.…”

Mentors and career development

“…The review is based on “Impact of mentoring on practicing engineers: a meta-synthesis”, by Wong et al , 2018, published in Journal of Workplace Learning . Workplace mentoring possesses scope to considerably enhance career development.…”