Professionals' use of different mentor sources at various career stages: Implications for career success

The authors investigated the various sources of mentors used by professiona ls, how these sources influenced both objective and subjective career succe ss, and whether the participants used different sources of mentors at diffe rent stages of their careers. According to data from 430 faculty members at 2 U.S. research institutions, assistant professors with mentors in their p rofessions, associate professors with mentors outside the work place, and p rofessors with mentors within their organizations had the highest levels of objective career success. Assistant professors with multiple sources of me ntors yielded significantly higher levels of both objective and subjective career success than did those with single sources or no mentor. If one link s professorial rank to career stage, the results suggest that the participa nts used different sources of mentors at different stages of their careers.