Mentoring for Post Graduate Students – Need Assessment (Indian Perspective)

Abstract

:  Mentoring is “a practice that remains ill defined, poorly conceptualized and weakly theorized, leading to confusion in policy and practice” Colley (2003). Mentoring may be described a relationship between a less experienced individual, a mentee or protégé, and a more experienced individual known as a mentor.

Several studies have indicated that mentoring is associated with positive behavioral, attitudinal, health-related, relational, motivational, and career outcomes. Not only in organizations, the need for mentorship can be felt early on, while a student transits from school to a postgraduate college/university. Although exciting, this transition may prove to be an overwhelming or daunting experience for many students.

Several educational institutions across the world boost of successful implementation of mentoring programme. However, despite the increase in mentorship research and practice, sparse data is available to understand the need and existing mentoring programmes at Postgraduate phase colleges, in India. The paper aims to study the need and effectiveness of both formal and informal mentoring programmes in Indian postgraduate colleges and suggest a way forward.

In this qualitative study, data about assessing the need for a mentor by postgraduate students is captured and analyzed by conducting Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with two set of management students belonging to different academic years.