We're all familiar with the conveniences of email: it's easy and instantaneous, and it's a cheap way to stay in touch with friends and family wherever they may be. It speeds communications in professional relationships, and no one knows if you're working in your home office in sweats.
Researchers as well as mentoring professionals believe these benefits give e-mentoring distinct advantages over traditional, face-to-face mentoring relationships—especially for the groups MentorNet serves: busy professionals and students.
Mostly obviously, by eliminating physical boundaries, email allows mentors and protégés to connect easily over long distances. Participants aren't restricted to mentoring partners who live nearby: a computer science major in Tennessee, say, can easily have a mentor in Silicon Valley. And without geographical restrictions, more mentors can be available to match with more students, increasing opportunities for good mentor-protégé matches.
Anytime, Anywhere Communication
Of course, the telephone connects people over long distances as well, but it's expensive and both people need to be free at the same time (or be resigned to playing telephone tag). Email is cheaper (usually free for students and professionals), and it allows far more flexibility and spontaneity than other forms of communication. For instance, a student wrestling with perfecting her résumé in the middle of the night can dash off a question via email, and her mentor can respond when she has time. Or a mentor might get a sudden insight and can fire off a quick note to her protégé before the thought escapes her.
"I'd say that's the top advantage: you can do it anytime, anyplace," says Ellen Ensher, associate professor of business at Loyola Marymount University. Ensher is co-author of the recent article, "Online Mentoring and Computer-Mediated Communication: New Directions in Research," in the Journal of Vocational Behavior; she also is a member of MentorNet's Advisory Board and has been involved with mentoring since 1992. "It removes the limitations of time and space. You can do it in your fuzzy slippers at 2 a.m., or easily communicate with somebody in London when you're in L.A."
Save Time and Money
Email also saves a great deal of time and money. Mentor and protégé can "meet" whenever it suits them, so there's no need to synchronize calendars, arrange meetings, or travel. That saves not only time, but also travel and lunch expenses. And it probably helps pairs connect more frequently: MentorNet program evaluations show that pairs email one another an average of two to three times a month.
Moreover, those communications are likely to be more thoughtful than discussions in person or in a telephone conversation. Writers have time to think, and they choose their words a bit more carefully. Having a written record of past exchanges is handy, too.
Focus on What Matters
Ensher and others have identified two less obvious benefits of email communications that could give e-mentoring critical advantages. One, it helps equalize status differences. This is important in student-professional mentorships. For instance, a protégé who would be intimidated in person by a high-powered corporate executive (especially one who talks fast and gets right to the point) can communicate freely in an electronic relationship.
E-mentoring also helps eliminate barriers that can be created by race, gender, age, ethnicity, or other socioeconomic and demographic factors that might hinder full participation in a face-to-face relationship. Ensher's research shows that perceived similarities lead to greater attraction between mentors and protégés, and email tends to highlight commonalities rather than differences.
"It's a huge advantage in e-mentoring relationships," says Ensher. "Demographics are a lot less salient, so mentoring pairs can form relationships without being distracted by these other cues; they can focus on what matters."