Understanding mentoring relationships in China: Towards a Confucian model

Most mentoring research conducted in Asia is based on theories developed in the Western world and quantitatively tests mentoring-related hypotheses rather than attempting to gain an in-depth understanding of mentoring in the Asian context. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap in the literature by examining mentoring relationships in China. In-depth interviews were conducted among mentors and mentees to explore their experience of the mentoring relationship. The findings highlight commonalities with mainstream mentoring research as well as several distinctive features. The findings are integrated in a contextualized model of mentoring that echoes the pervasive influence of Confucianism in China. Other theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.