Why Is Mentorship Declining?
Time is the main factor in the decline of mentorship
C. McLaughlin, author of “Mentoring: What is it? How do we do it and how do we get more of it?”, contributes time as the main factor in the decline of mentorship. Taking a look at faculty mentors at the university level specifically, many professors feel they are too busy to mentor someone as they try to keep up with the demands of research, teaching, and committee work. Learning how to be a good mentor is time-consuming; it does not just happen. The practice of mentoring may come easily for some, but for most, mentoring requires active decision-making and a high level of commitment, often resulting in little recognition or reward. The disconnect between available mentors and potential mentees explains why more formal mentoring programs have become more popular.
Even though Millennials desire a more formal mentoring relationship, research shows that corporate America has placed a devaluation on mentoring. John Grovender, author of “The Decline of Mentors and Mentoring,” discusses the reality of corporations operating under the assumption that employees are essentially plug-and-play, interchangeable from position to position. This type of thinking discourages employees, making them feel devalued and resulting in the discouragement of forming mentoring relationships. Grovender outlines what it takes for mentoring to become a prominent practice again. Mentoring requires respect; no one wants to learn from someone who treats them poorly. Respect for the mentee requires sincere, long-term care and patience. Mentoring requires trust and time; mentees will not trust their mentors unless there is time spent getting to know each other and establishing trust. Grovender also contributes “bungee managers” to the decline of mentorship; the constant job-hopping by senior management has disrupted the practice of mentorship. Mentoring brings stability and productivity to organizations and must be required to develop leadership. Mentors are the driving force behind the future success of business, social, scientific, and humanitarian efforts; and as the baby boomer generation retires, mentoring must be returned to a state of value for the sake of future generations.
Decrease In Apprenticeships
No Organizational Support
Not Enough Time
Bungee Managers
Lack of Commitment
Lack of Trust
FUN FACT
Millennials are encouraged to find a mentor by many different sources (i.e., parents, career centers, teachers, etc.). However, with the path to advancement becoming highly individualized and informal, this affects finding a mentor. Interestingly, research shows that Millennials look to the cinematic model as it pertains to mentoring, learning from the stories of Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games trilogy. Both of these characters were not required to go and find a mentor. Instead, they were chosen, deemed special, and given a mentor. As discussed in the previous section, Millennials like to feel special. Research shows that when Millennials were asked, “Do you have a mentor?” the response was split down the middle with 49.83% saying yes, 50.17% saying no, 16.44% saying they had one mentor, 17.11% saying they had three or more mentors, and 19.45% saying they had known their mentors for eighteen+ years. Most respondents named their father or another male family member as their mentor. This research suggests that the number of respondents who reported having a family member as a mentor did not know what a mentor is, how to select one, or what a mentor is supposed to do.