Mentee Perceptions of Public School Superintendent Mentorship in a Rural, Midwest State

Authors

Erin Lehmann, University of South DakotaFollow
Dave Olson, Meade School District 461-1Follow
Dan Leikvold, Lead-Deadwood School DistrictFollow
David De Jong, University of South DakotaFollow
Kristine Reed, University of South DakotaFollow

Keywords

mentorship, superintendent, rural leadership, technology and mentoring

Abstract

Superintendent formal mentorship programs have traditionally relied on geographic proximity and mentor availability to pair new superintendents with mentors. This study examines which mentor characteristics contribute to mentee satisfaction with the formal mentorship program. This study used a quantitative research design in which participants completed a survey used to compare mentor characteristics to mentee satisfaction with the program. 73 (49.6%) superintendents participated in the study, of which 19 had participated in a formal mentorship program. The overall research results suggest that two mentor characteristics, Leadership/Disposition Qualities and Mentor Availability had a significant positive relationship to mentee satisfaction with the formal mentorship program. This study suggests modern technology may be utilized in order to facilitate mentorship pairing based on valued characteristics rather than the traditional criteria of geographic proximity and mentor availability.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Lehmann, Erin; Olson, Dave; Leikvold, Dan; De Jong, David; and Reed, Kristine (2021) "Mentee Perceptions of Public School Superintendent Mentorship in a Rural, Midwest State," Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy: Vol. 16: Iss. 1. https://doi.org/10.4148/1936-0487.1108