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ABSTRACT
This exploratory study examines the importance of mentor/mentee relationships on faculty development by measuring how social exchange between new faculty members (mentees) in information systems and their former dissertation chairs (mentors) relate to how quickly the new faculty members completed their doctoral program and the number of peer reviewed publications they produced in their first six years of academic employment. In addition, this study measures how gender and ethnicity relate to the strength of the social exchange between mentors and mentees. The results show a statistically significant relationship between social ties and the number of publications new faculty obtain in their early years of academic employment. The results also indicate that mixed gender pairs have higher social exchange in this context. This study has implications for shaping doctoral education by providing insight into the importance of social ties on the development and productivity of new faculty.
Keywords: Mentoring, Leader-Member Exchange, Doctoral Education, Mentor, Mentee
1. INTRODUCTION
Mentoring can take many forms. In some cases, a senior member of the organization is assigned to "show the ropes" to a new employee or junior faculty member; in settings, it can be a senior faculty member that a younger, junior faculty member is comfortable with when needing advice on decisions or problems they are faced with; or it can take the form of a conversation (or series of conversations) that took place early in an individual's career. In each instance, the mentor provides advice, direction, and serves as a role model for the younger individual. These relationships can be ongoing, irregular, or of very short duration; however, these interactions have a profound impact on the future direction and decisions of the younger individual. Many times these interactions provide a roadmap for the success or failure of the younger individual.
In an academic setting, mentoring requires that a senior faculty member be willing to take the time to listen and provide direction to students and/or junior faculty members, Mentoring can be a rewarding, sometimes frustrating, and time consuming process; but it is a role that should be embraced by senior faculty. It is posited that through the mentoring process senior faculty members can make their most significant contribution to future generations. There are many instances where an...