Dissertation Abstract

A comparison of mentor and mentee perceptions regarding informal and formal mentoring programs in a health sciences program in radiation therapy

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to describe the perceptions of mentors and mentees regarding the effectiveness of the informal mentoring program of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center School of Health Sciences Program in Radiation Therapy during the 2003-2004 academic year; (2) to describe the perceptions of mentors and mentees regarding the effectiveness of the formal mentoring program of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center School of Health Sciences Program in Radiation Therapy during the 2004-2005 academic year; and (3) to compare the perceptions of the mentors and mentees who participated in the informal mentoring program during the 2003-2004 academic year to the perceptions of the mentors and mentees who participated in the formal mentoring program during the 2004-2005 academic year.

To achieve this purpose, the study used a survey research design and administered two surveys---one for mentors and one for mentees---to describe and compare the perceptions of faculty members who served as mentors and the perceptions of students who were mentees in the informal mentoring program during the 2003-2004 academic year and the perceptions of faculty members who served as mentors and the perceptions of students who were mentees in the formal mentoring program during the 2004-2005 academic year. The surveys---developed by Suen and Chow---focused on five aspects of the mentoring role described as important by the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery, and Health Visiting Nurses: (1) the befriending role; (2) the assisting role; (3) the guiding role; (4) the advising role; and (5) the counseling role.

The results obtained from the mentors and mentees who participated in this study indicated that both mentors and mentees were---on average---quite positive about the roles played by the mentors in both the informal and formal mentoring programs but, for the most part, were statistically significantly more positive about the roles played by the mentors in the formal mentoring program.

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