Relations among gender, years of experience, and preferred mentoring functions of high school assistant principals

The purpose of this research was to identify and differentiate the mentoring needs of one group of administrators, high school assistant principals. Specifically, the study has focused on mentoring functions delineated according to psychosocial vs. vocational needs, determination of the comparative value subjects placed on psychosocial and vocational functions, the influence of an individual\u27s age on the desire to enter a mentoring relationship, influence of years as assistant principal on the need for mentoring functions, a preference for mentor gender, and effect of one\u27s career aspirations on his/her desire for mentoring assistance. Subjects were 42 male and 33 female assistant principals from Massachusetts. All subjects completed a questionnaire rating eight mentoring functions (educating, coaching, sponsoring, protecting, role-modeling, encouraging, counseling, and moving from transitional figure to colleague). Ten subjects (five men; five women) participated in a follow-up interview. Questionnaire data were analyzed using a correlational approach; interview data were presented thematically. Hypothesized influence of age of subject and years of experience affecting the need for mentoring assistance were not found except for the counseling function. Hypothesized effects for subjects\u27 valuing psychosocial more than vocational functions were substantiated. Hypothesized effects for women valuing same-gender mentors more than men or men valuing vocational assistance more than women were not substantiated. In the follow-up interviews, however, women indicated a preference for same gender role models. Hypothesized effects for the career aspirations of an individual influencing his/her desire to receive mentoring assistance were substantiated for the consulting and sponsoring functions only. The function least valued was the protecting function. The major conclusions of the study were: (1) Similarities between the mentoring needs of the men and women suggest that progress has been made in differentiating gender from leadership. (2) Novices are not alone in exhibiting the need for mentoring assistance. Something akin to the need for the collegiality, counseling and honest feedback of mentoring exists at every level throughout one\u27s career. Results suggest a mentoring program would benefit individuals of varying ages and experience levels and that it is unnecessary to match proteges and mentors by gender