Outcomes of Mentoring Relationships Among Sport Management Faculty: Application of a Theoretical Framework

Abstract

The importance of mentoring in the development of individual careers is noted in the business and higher education literature. However, prior research has given little attention to the development of mentoring relationships between junior and senior sport management faculty members. In addition to providing context-specific information, mentorship studies of sport management faculty provide insight on an emerging and gender-imbalanced discipline in the academy. This study reviews the literature on mentorship, and presents a hybrid framework on the mentor–protégé relationships established in the academic field of sport management. Specifically, the study identifies aspects of the relationships likely to yield positive perceptual outcomes, such as relationship effectiveness, trust, and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 161 sport management faculty members in the United States and Canada. The results provide support for the new hybrid framework and highlight mentoring as a valuable mechanism to support sport management faculty.