The Wiley International Handbook of Mentoring

35Synthesis of Mentoring Possibilities

Frances Kochan

Auburn University, AL, USA

Mentoring is, as reported by Garvey (2017), “as old as the hills” (p.15). This phenomenon, embedded in human and cultural interactions, appears to be foundational to individual and organizational growth and development and will inevitably continue to be an integral part of social structures and personal relationships. However, as the authors of the chapters in the Mentoring Possibilities section of this book indicate, the context, content, and processes of mentoring may differ in numerous ways in the years ahead.

The first four chapters in this section deal with the context of mentoring and remind us of the complexities of this endeavor and our need to be aware of and attend to this context in order to foster mentoring success. Much of the focus is on issues of power imposed externally through policies and organizational or cultural mores and through the status of those involved in the relationship. Each chapter examines this from a unique perspective.

Fransson begins the section with an extensive overview of the context in which mentoring policies are developed and implemented. He discusses the impact of policy development in mentoring contexts in the educational realm with the belief that “many of the findings can be transferred to other mentoring contexts.” The author cautions us to be fully aware of the manner in which imposed policies can stifle individual and organizational creativity and ...