Relationship of Career Mentoring and Socioeconomic Origin to Managers' and Professionals' Early Career Progress

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of career mentoring to the promotions and compensation received by 404 early career managers and professionals working in a variety of organizations. The results indicate that with a number of variables controlled, career mentoring was related to both promotion rate and total compensation. The results also support the conclusion that career-oriented mentoring has a greater relationship with promotion rate for people from the highest-level socioeconomic backgrounds than for those from lower-level backgrounds. We provide several explanations for the effects of career mentoring on early career progress and suggest a number of areas for future research on mentoring and other developmental relationships.