The Wiley International Handbook of Mentoring

18The College Mentoring Experience—A Hong Kong Case Study

Barley Mak

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Mentoring in East and West

The idea of mentoring prevailed in both Western and Eastern worlds for a long time. The Greek mythology describes mentoring as a relationship of a more experienced, older adult assisting the younger adult to learn and steer in the sophisticated world and work life of grown‐ups (Kram, 1985). The individual who is guided by the senior is often known as the mentee or protégé. From the Chinese perspective, mentoring is assimilated into the traditional beliefs of the culture. Mentoring integrates with the Taoist teaching of self‐reflection, simplicity, openness to others, and sharing of the selves, in which both mentors and mentees can mutually benefit from the dynamic interactions of the ideas, support, and joy of success being exchanged and shared (Huang & Lynch, 1995). In addition, Confucius emphasized jen (benevolence) in the mentor as a moral example in cultivating one's inner good for the sake of others, while merits are weighted according to the virtues instead of profits (Chong, 2009). Thus, mentoring is deemed as a gift from the mentor. In order to work efficiently toward the agreed goals together, the protégé is obliged to be honest, deferential, and respectful to their mentors. In present times, Mullen (1994) referred to mentoring as an unique information exchange and knowledge attainment mechanism which is dissimilar to formal ...