Mentorship Among Female Sport Management Doctoral Students

The purpose of this study was to ascertain what role mentoring played in female sport management faculty's decision to pursue doctoral degrees and to investigate and identify factors related to successful transition through the doctoral program. A qualitative, descriptive-interpretive approach utilizing a cross case analysis of current female faculty in sport management was used to discover participants' subjective views regarding a specific experience or experiences in an effort to provide unique, relevant data (Anda, 2001). This methodology allowed for a greater understanding of the participants and their experiences. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight participants dichotomized by race: four White and four Black Assistant Professors teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs at various types of Carnegie classified institutions. Collectively, seven major themes and four major personality traits and characteristics developed from verbatim transcriptions of the interviews. The seven themes included athletic involvement, career in athletics, career aspirations, pedagogy decision, influence of mentor, mentor roles, and context of mentoring. The four personality traits and characteristics related to success were athletic involvement/career in athletics, single with no dependents, competitive/confident, and vigilance/determination.