Junior faculty membersʼ mentoring relationships and their professional development in U.S. medical schools

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Abstract
PURPOSE : To determine ( 1 ) the prevalence of mentoring relationships for U . S . medical school junior faculty ; ( 2 ) the quality of these mentoring relationships ; ( 3 ) any variation by gender or race ; and ( 4 ) the relationship between mentoring and junior faculty members ' perceptions of institutional professional support ; research -, teaching -, and clinical-skills development ; allocation of time to professional activities ; and career satisfaction . METHOD : In 1995 a 177-item survey was mailed to 3 , 013 full-time faculty at 24 randomly selected U . S . medical schools stratified on an area of medical specialization , graduation cohort , and gender . Mentoring was defined as “ dynamic reciprocal relationship between an advanced career incumbent ( the mentor ) and a junior faculty member ( the protege ) aimed at fostering the development of the junior person / protege .” Because mentoring is most crucial for junior faculty , the study focused on mentoring relationships within the previous three years (“ recent mentoring ”) for faculty who were not full professors . Chisquare tests , analysis of variance , and principal-components analysis were used to analyze the data . RESULTS : In all , 1 , 808 ( 60 %) of the 3 , 013 faculty surveyed , of whom 72 % were junior faculty , returned completed questionaires . Fifty-four percent of the junior faculty had had a recent mentoring relationship . There was no significant difference between the men and the women faculty or between majority and minority faculty in the prevalence and quality of the mentoring relationships . The faculty with mentors rated their research preparation and research skills higher than did the faculty without mentors . Most of the women faculty ( 80 %) and the minority faculty ( 86 %) who had had mentors reported that it was not important to have a mentor of the same gender or minority group . CONCLUSION : Mentoring relationships are prevalent in academic medicine and should be promoted to support the career growth of junior faculty .

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