Chapter 2: Mentors, Sponsors, and Diversity in Work Organizations: Who Helps Whom and What Difference Does It Make?

A major theme in the literature on diversity in the labor force is the importance of mentors for those who get ahead in their careers. Noting that women and minority employees are less likely to have mentors who can provide advice and help compared to White men, women and minority employees have been urged to find mentors, and companies have been urged to provide them, sometimes in formal programs and sometimes informally. More recently, a distinction has been made between a mentor who can give advice and a sponsor who can give more substantive help, although the focus on mentors who give advice still predominates in discussions about career needs for women and minority employees. In this paper we will make three contributions: (a) we provide an overview of the research with regard to mentoring; (b) we reinforce and clarify the distinctions between the roles of mentors and sponsors, along with the related roles of coaches, role models, and networks; and (c) we raise critical questions that have not been given sufficient attention in the research literature about who helps whom in the labor force and to what effect. We end with a discussion of how employees who may be at a disadvantage in gaining access to supportive relationships in the workplace can improve their chances of positive outcomes.