E-Mentoring

Abstract

Mentoring involves the creation of a relational bond between a more and a less experienced person in order to advance the learning, socialization, and aspirations of the less experienced partner. Traditionally, mentoring has been conducted through face-to-face meetings, which promote optimal social connectedness, interpersonal attachment, and growing trust and confidence. The limited availability of local mentors, a desire for better mentor-mentee matching, and a concern for flexibility and inclusion have all resulted in attempts to distance the mentoring process. Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring), which uses computer-mediated communication technologies to link the partners, has provided logistical and pragmatic benefits. However, mentoring relies on strong relational bonds and social exchange dynamics, both of which are potentially weakened by social, psychological, and cognitive distance. This chapter explores the dynamics and process of mentoring and how these are altered in e-mentoring. Specifically, it examines transactional distance, distancing the locus of experience, and national culture differences between mentor and mentee. These impacts on e-mentoring are explored and recommendations for practice are presented, as are considerations for the future directions of e-mentoring in educational and organizational programs.