Mentor-protege diversity and its impact on international internship experiences

This research examines demographic diversity between mentors and proteges on international internships. Using a sample of 138 interns on six-month overseas assignments, the results indicate that interns who are different in nationality and gender from their mentors are much less likely to receive task-related, social-related, and career-related support from them. Moreover, this deficit in mentoring is associated with poorer socialization to internship assignments, lower levels of learning about international business, lower likelihoods of receiving and accepting job offers from internship employers, and lower perceived career instrumentality of the internships. The implications of the results for future research on mentor-protege diversity and the design of international internships are discussed as well.