Abstract

In competitive industries, it is incumbent on design managers to tackle issues of employee disengagement, workplace attrition, and burnout. Literature suggests that mentorship may be an effective tool in these efforts, yet the topic has garnered little attention from design researchers. This mixed-methods study aimed to develop an in-depth and pragmatic understanding of practice-based mentorship motives, factors, and functions from the mentors’ perspective. It sought to identify mentor motivations, their priorities, and factors of organizational supports and barriers to mentorship. Findings from seventy-one mid- to senior-level architects and interior design practitioners suggest that design mentorship—both formal and informal—is a critical component of design practice. Most mentors are motivated by generative inclinations and one’s own history with mentorship and, to a lesser degree, their firms’ culture and incentives. The terms they associated with mentorship echoed these sentiments. That said, mentors face many challenges in providing mentorship, including time and work pressures, protégé characteristics, and organizational priorities. Taken together, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by offering theoretical and pragmatic insights surrounding the dynamics of design mentorship. As such, its findings may be utilized by scholars and design managers alike.