Under the microscope: Gender and mentor–protégé relationships

Forty (40) depth interviews were conducted among Florida-based public relations practitioners to examine mentor–protégé relationship dynamics according to gender. Two factors, compatibility and structural features, are offered to explain successful mentoring in public relations and to suggest a strategy for maximizing its benefits. Moreover, mentoring facilitates career enhancement in five important ways (supplement to college training, validation and empowerment, deportment, networking, reciprocity) – and gender composition of vertical dyads seems to matter a great deal.