Abstract
Introduction: Prerequisites for a successful mentoring program include identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Mentors’ training is also an essential factor in promoting a mentoring program. Therefore, we investigated the effect of educating mentors on the quality of mentoring. Furthermore, internal and external analyses of the program (SWOT) were performed.
Methods: Data collection tools included SWOT and the quality of mentoring questionnaires. First, all mentees completed the SWOT questionnaire. The mentors were randomly divided into intervention (with training) and control (without training) groups. Two months after the intervention, the mentees completed the mentoring quality questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software, and the Chi-square test, analysis of covariance, paired and independent t-test were carried out.
Results: SWOT questionnaire analysis showed that the mentoring program’s most effective strengths were the mentee’s honesty with the mentor and the mentor’s extensive experience for guidance. The most critical weaknesses were the lack of communication with the mentor at the appointed time and the mentor’s uncertainty about learning. The most important opportunities of the program were feeling comfortable with the mentor and the usefulness of the program. The mentors’ concern about transferring the information to the other students threatened the mentoring program. The covariance test showed a significant difference in mentoring quality between the intervention and control groups.
Conclusion: Mentors’ training with pamphlets and lectures increased the quality of the mentoring program. Considering the results of the SWOT analysis may improve the planning of mentoring programs in the future