| By: |
Etienne St-Jean (UQTR - Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières);
Miruna Radu-Lefebvre (Audencia Business School);
Cynthia Mathieu (UQTR - Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) |
| Abstract: |
One of the main goals of entrepreneurial mentoring programs is to strengthen
the mentees’ self-efficacy. However, the conditions in which entrepreneurial
self-efficacy (ESE) is developed through mentoring are not yet fully explored.
The purpose of this paper is to test the combined effects of mentee’s learning
goal orientation (LGO) and perceived similarity with the mentor and
demonstrates the role of these two variables in mentoring relationships. The
current study is based on a sample of 360 novice Canadian entrepreneurs who
completed an online questionnaire. The authors used a cross-sectional analysis
as research design. Findings indicate that the development of ESE is optimal
when mentees present low levels of LGO and perceive high similarities between
their mentor and themselves. Mentees with high LGO decreased their level of
ESE with more in-depth mentoring received. This study investigated a formal
mentoring program with volunteer (unpaid) mentors. Generalization to informal
mentoring relationships needs to be tested. The study shows that, in order to
effectively develop self-efficacy in a mentoring situation, LGO should be
taken into account. Mentors can be trained to modify mentees’ LGO to increase
their impact on this mindset and mentees’ ESE. This is the first empirical
study that demonstrates the effects of mentoring on ESE and reveals a triple
moderating effect of LGO and perceived similarity in mentoring relationships. |
| Keywords: |
Mentoring, Networks, Psychology, Learning goal orientation, Entrepreneurial self-efficacy, Perceived similarity |
| Date: |
2018–01–08 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01738307&r=neu |