Mentoring in a culturally diverse society: The effect of subcultural variations on mentor selection criteria

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify if there were differences in criteria for the selection of mentors in African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian Pacific Islander, and Caucasian male and female undergraduate students. The selection criteria considered in this study included age of the mentor, gender of the mentor, race of the mentor in respect to the race of the protégé, personal time desired with the mentor, professional accomplishments of the mentor, ability of the mentor to advance protégé's career, similarity of life experiences of the mentor and the protégé, expectation of psychological support from the mentor, number of mentors needed to fulfill protégé's mentoring needs, and the importance placed on having a mentor. This research also studied the differences in criteria of selection of mentors between male and female students in each race.; Methodology. This study was based on descriptive and ex post facto research designs that tested thirteen research questions. Four hundred forty-two students participated in this research. The data were analyzed with a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), an independent-sample t-test, and the test of least significant difference (LSD).; Findings. This study found that there are more similarities than differences in selection criteria for mentors between African-American, Asian Pacific Islander, Caucasian, and Hispanic students. All ethnic groups preferred a mentor who was older than the protégé; were inclined for low acceptance of mentor from a race different than their own; desired to spend a significant amount of time with their mentor; wanted their mentor to support their career advancement, make them feel competent, support their self-esteem, and have friendship with their mentors.; Conclusions. The research concludes that the gender of the mentor is not a critical consideration in selection of mentor for any ethnic group. Undergraduate students believed that it was very important to have a mentor. Even though each ethnic group, and gender within each ethnic group, preferred mentors with similar characteristics, there were statistically significant differences about the level of importance each placed on these characteristics.; Recommendations. This research suggests that to be an effective mentor, mentors need to spend significant amount of time with protégé; share their professional accomplishments and method of accomplishment with their protégé; assist with protégé's career advancement by providing visibility, guidance, networking, and career support; and provide psychological support to the protégé by making them feel competent, supporting their self-esteem, and being their friend.