| The current study investigated whether doctoral students' perceptions of what they received from their mentoring relationships significantly impacted the relational health of the mentoring relationship beyond that predicted by perceptions of the ideal mentor. Participants were 219 doctoral level students from a large Midwestern state funded university. Respondents were 71% White (n=156), 5% Native American/American Indian (n=10), 5% African American (n=10), 3% Hispanic (n=8), 3% Middle Eastern (n=6), 3% Asian American (n=6), 1% Multi-racial (n=2), and 9% other (n=21). The sex break down included 133 females (61%) and 86 males (39%). The mean age of respondents was 33 years with a range from 22 years to 60 years of age (mean age for females = 33, mean age for males =32). Participants read and agreed to an informed consent and then electronically completed a demographics form, the Alleman Mentoring Activities Questionnaire (AMAQ; Alleman & Clarke, 2002), the Ideal Mentoring Scale (IMS; Rose, 1999), and the Relational Health Indices (RHI, Liang et al., 2002). A MANOVA found no significant differences between participants based upon university college, ethnicity of participants, mentor ethnicity, year in program, or sexual composition of the mentoring dyad. Hierarchical multiple regression models showed that the AMAQ explained a significant 55% of the variance in the participants' perception of the relational health of the mentoring relationship, with the full model R2=.60, F(2,217)=163.20, p<.001. Doctoral students were found to base their perceptions of the relational health of their current mentoring relationships on what they believed they were receiving from the relationship more than on their ideals of what a mentor should provide. The major implication of these findings is that mentors, proteges, and institutions can increase successful navigation of graduate programs and the transition into the chosen field of work if the needs of the protege can be successfully matched with what the mentor is willing to provide. |
