An investigation of the moderating effects of gender on the relationships between mentorship initiation and protégé perceptions of mentoring functions

Recent research has suggested that the more the mentor is involved in relationship initiation the greater the benefits that the protégé may receive. No research, however, has examined the impact of protégé gender on the relationship between initiation and mentoring received. The results of this study indicate that male protégés perceived more mentoring than female protégés in protégé-initiated mentorships. Female protégés, however, reported receiving more mentoring than male protégés if the relationship was mentor-initiated or where both mentor and protégé initiated the relationship. Protégés in informal mentorships reported receiving more mentoring than those in formal organizational programs. The findings of this study also indicate that protégés may benefit more from same-sex relationships than cross-sex relationships with respect to role modeling.