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Entrepreneurs’ Evaluations of Mentors: The Role of Value Similarities and Mentors’ Experiences

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Entrepreneurs’ Evaluations of Mentors: The Role of Value Similarities and Mentors’ Experiences
Authors: Julia Kirsch, Rieke Dibbern, Holger Patzelt, Nicola Breugst
Source: Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy. 8:371-401
Publisher Information: SAGE Publications, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Subject Terms: 4. Education, 0502 economics and business, 05 social sciences, Connecting Entrepreneurship Research and Practice in Entrepreneurship Education, entrepreneurial learning, mentorship, relational learning, value similiarity, entrepreneurial support [Special Issue], ddc
Description: Focusing on a specific form of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial mentoring, we take a relational mentoring perspective and develop a model of entrepreneurs’ assessments of potential mentors. We theorize that if mentees perceive their business-related values to be similar to a potential mentor’s values, they are more likely to choose this mentor, and that this relationship is moderated by different types of the potential mentor’s experiences (i.e., entrepreneurial experience, industry experience, and mentoring experience). We test our hypotheses using a metric conjoint experiment and 2,240 assessments of potential mentors by 140 entrepreneurs. Our findings reveal that mentees' perception of business-related value similarity with a potential mentor increases the likelihood of choosing this mentor. Further, higher levels of mentors’ experiences strengthen this relationship. We discuss the implications of our study for research on entrepreneurial mentoring and relational learning in the entrepreneurial context, and we provide practical insights on how the matching process in mentoring programs may be facilitated.
Document Type: Article
File Description: application/pdf
Language: English
ISSN: 2515-1274
DOI: 10.1177/25151274241239674
Access URL: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1782525
Rights: URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....99b1d4745cb2bfedf6f24993ca31df4b
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
Abstract:Focusing on a specific form of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial mentoring, we take a relational mentoring perspective and develop a model of entrepreneurs’ assessments of potential mentors. We theorize that if mentees perceive their business-related values to be similar to a potential mentor’s values, they are more likely to choose this mentor, and that this relationship is moderated by different types of the potential mentor’s experiences (i.e., entrepreneurial experience, industry experience, and mentoring experience). We test our hypotheses using a metric conjoint experiment and 2,240 assessments of potential mentors by 140 entrepreneurs. Our findings reveal that mentees' perception of business-related value similarity with a potential mentor increases the likelihood of choosing this mentor. Further, higher levels of mentors’ experiences strengthen this relationship. We discuss the implications of our study for research on entrepreneurial mentoring and relational learning in the entrepreneurial context, and we provide practical insights on how the matching process in mentoring programs may be facilitated.
ISSN:25151274
DOI:10.1177/25151274241239674