DEFENSE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH Mentors, Mentor Substitutes, or Virtual Mentors? Alternative Mentoring Approaches for the Military

This report provides an overview of mentoring: the career enhancing and psychosocial functions, the stages of development in the mentoring relationship, and a selective review of the research literature. We argue that the traditional mentoring relationship is difficult to establish and maintain in a military environment for a number of reasons including the rank structure and job environment. Therefore, a number of mentoring alternatives are presented: peer mentors, team mentoring, mentor circles, networking, specialty leaders, retirees, and virtual mentors. Several suggestions for implementing these alternatives in the military follow.