Exploring the role of mentoring in the IS profession: a cross-national comparison

ABSTRACT

Workplace mentoring is beneficial to protégés, most often, in the form of career related and psychosocial support. Mentoring is found to positively impact career progression and satisfaction, is positively correlated with affective commitment, and negatively related to turnover behavior. For academics and practitioners concerned about more effective integration and participation of IS professionals in the IT workforce, mentoring may provide a solution for mitigating the effects of a high-pressure, masculine work environment. While mentoring has been examined to some extent in the general management literature, it has received only passing attention in information systems (IS) research, particularly in a global context. The unique characteristics and demands of the IS profession and increasing trends toward offshoring warrant an IS-specific examination of mentoring behaviors, preferences, and influences. In this study, we propose to conduct a cross-cultural study of mentoring among Indian and American IS professionals. Our study hopes to yield beneficial insights for mentoring practice and research in the IS profession.

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Index Terms

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)