Abstract
The Problem. Research was conducted to determine the prevalence and importance of mentoring in the career development of the top level California Community College women administrator. The study determined how important she perceived mentoring to be in helping her career development, whether she was mentored, the nature of the experience which she had, the type of help she was given, whether she was mentored by men or women, whether she herself mentored others, the nature of that mentoring experience, criteria she would use in selecting a person to mentor, and her perceptions of what makes a successful protege/mentor relationship. Methodology. Women Presidents, Deans, and Associate Deans in California Community Colleges were sent a questionnaire asking for their perception of the importance and impact of mentoring on their career development and their experiences as a mentor of others. Eighty-one point four percent responded. The majority of the data were treated with descriptive statistics and the chi square comparison of frequencies. Results and Conclusions. Although most women still do not plan their careers, there is a trend toward career planning, and significantly more associate deans plan their careers than the other two groups. Women rank being competent and having drive as the most helpful factors in the development of their careers; having a sponsor or mentor ranked sixth. An average of 2.7 people influenced the development of their careers as trainer/teacher, role model, sponsor, or mentor. Deans had significantly more people influence their careers than the other two groups. Eight-four percent of all sponsors were men and seventy-three percent of all mentors were men. Eighty-nine percent of the respondents had two or more proteges. Associate deans helped significantly fewer proteges than their superiors. Forty-eight percent of the group reported acting as mentors at least once. Fewer presidents mentored proteges than the other two groups. Deans and Associate Deans reported helping women over men three-to-one.