A Retrospective Study of Retired Academics: Long-term Career Benefits of Past Mentoring Behaviors

While there is extensive literature on the benefits of mentoring for mentees, less is known about the impact of those relationships on mentors, particularly, after mentors complete their careers (i.e., retirement). For academics, the time and energy spent mentoring students can either be beneficial or costly to productivity. This study explores the associations between past mentoring and present evaluations of retired academics’ careers, seeking to investigate the long-term career benefits of mentoring. Understanding the evaluation of older adults’ careers at retirement in relation to their prior engagement in mentoring is critical, as mentoring is an integral component of careers in academia. Survey data were collected from a national sample of 277 retired academics averaging 73.6 (SD=6.2) years old and 7.7 (SD=5.8) years post-retirement. Results from structural equation models demonstrated that retired academics who reported having more protegees (β=.19, p=.024) and engaged in more mentoring behaviors (β=.18, p=.027) exhibited increased objective career benefits. Providing more mentoring functions was also associated with higher subjective career achievement (β=.33, p<.001). Interestingly, the number of mentees and mentoring behaviors were not correlated to career satisfaction. Findings from the current study demonstrate the association between past mentoring experiences with career success. Examining the link between mentoring behaviors and overall assessments of career in retirement offers important insight into the long-term benefits of mentoring in higher education training prompting further research into the realization of these benefits in later life.

Social media activity: its impact on career-related perceptions

Purpose The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine individual perceptions about the impact that social media use has on career satisfaction and perceived career benefits. We examined whether informal online learning through “typical” types of social media behaviors (e.g. liking a post or messaging another user) and “networking” types of social media behaviors (e.g. endorsing another user, writing recommendations, going “live,” or looking for a job) impacted career-related perceptions. Design/methodology/approach In this study, we analyzed Amazon Mechanical Turk survey data gathered from adult participants (n = 475). We focused our inquiry specifically on two social media sites, Facebook and LinkedIn. We asked participants about their social media use and behaviors, as well as their perceptions of career satisfaction and career benefits related to social media. Findings We found that both typical and networking types of social media behaviors positively predicted the “knowing whom” career competency (defined as career relevant networks and contacts that individuals use to develop their careers) and career satisfaction. Only networking behaviors were positively associated with perceived career benefits of social media use. We further found that LinkedIn users’ career satisfaction was lower compared to non-LinkedIn users. Originality/value This study adds to the small, but growing body of career research focusing on social capital and social media. Our results suggest that informal online learning via social media may have a positive impact on employees’ career-related perceptions.

Comment on: The association between early career informal mentorship in academic collaborations and junior author performance

This comment is written in response to the recent article published in Nature Communications (17th November 2020) entitled, ‘The association between early career informal mentorship in academic collaborations and junior author performance’ by AlShebli et al. This short paper provides a theoretical foundation based upon current literature to propose an alternative framework from which to conduct the analysis of the data collected by AlShebli et al. (2020).We believe that AlShebli et al’s (2020) results corroborate, at unique scale, the well-documented gender citation bias. We find that the interpretation of the data, that junior academic careers (both men and women) see greater career benefits when being mentored by senior men, is lacking theoretical foundation and not cognisant of the accepted knowledge on this topic. We are motivated in responding to this article by our concern that should this interpretation go unchallenged, we see a very high risk to the participation and progression of women in STEM academia.

Losing Prosociality in the Quest for Talent? Sorting, Selection, and Productivity in the Delivery of Public Services

We embed a field experiment in a nationwide recruitment drive for a new health care position in Zambia to test whether career benefits attract talent at the expense of prosocial motivation. In line with common wisdom, offering career opportunities attracts less prosocial applicants. However, the trade-off exists only at low levels of talent; the marginal applicants in treatment are more talented and equally prosocial. These are hired, and perform better at every step of the causal chain: they provide more inputs, increase facility utilization, and improve health outcomes including a 25 percent decrease in child malnutrition. (JEL H83, I11, I13, J24, M51, O15, Z13)

Mentoring Characteristics and Functions Important to Men and Women within Intercollegiate Athletic Administration

Female athletic administrators were asked about the role of mentoring in their careers as women while male athletic administrators were asked about the role of mentoring in their careers as men working in intercollegiate athletic administration. The researchers gathered and compared information on mentor characteristics as well as career and psychosocial benefits of having a mentor. Participants were 518 female and 778 male athletic administrators working at NCAA Division I, II, and IIII, NAIA, NCCAA, and NJCAA schools. A three-step content-analytic procedure was used to analyze the qualitative data. Men identified being trustworthy, supportive, respected, and a good listener while women identified being supportive, hardworking, and knowledgeable as the most important mentor characteristics. Men most frequently named coaching and challenging assignments as career benefits from mentors while women named exposure/visability and coaching. Both men and women most frequently identified counseling and role modeling as psychosocial benefits from mentors.

Executive Extraversion: Career and Firm Outcomes

ABSTRACT Psychology research identifies extraversion as the personality trait most closely associated with leadership emergence. We examine executive extraversion, as measured by speech patterns during conference calls, and find extraverts experience significant career benefits. Controlling for executive and firm characteristics, including firm fixed effects, we find that extraverted CEOs and CFOs earn 6–9 percent higher salaries. Moreover, extraverted CEOs are less likely to experience job turnover, have longer tenures, serve on more outside boards, and hold directorships at larger firms, and extraverted CFOs are more likely to be promoted to CEO. Executive extraversion is also linked with firm outcomes. Analyzing a sample of manager transitions, we find that increases in CEO extraversion are associated with improvements in investor recognition and sales growth. Further, extraverted CEOs are associated with higher acquisition announcement returns. Our findings highlight the role of personality traits in explaining executive career and firm outcomes. JEL Classifications: G14.