Bittersweet attachments: The bonds and binds of mentorship.
Item
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Title
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Bittersweet attachments: The bonds and binds of mentorship.
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Identifier
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AAI3047251
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identifier
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3047251
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Creator
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Oglensky, Bonnie D.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Robert R. Alford
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Date
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2002
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, General | Education, Adult and Continuing | Sociology, Theory and Methods
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Abstract
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Interweaving sociological and psychoanalytic perspectives, this dissertation delves into the relationship between mentors and proteges ---exploring how these relationships unfold and analyzing the nature of the personal bond that develops between parties and the emotionally-laden dynamics of this process. Standing in the crosshairs of authority and love, mentorship is shown to be embedded with multiple sources of conscious and unconscious ambivalence.;This inquiry---based on in-depth interviews with fifty individuals in longstanding mentorships across a range of professional occupations with special case analyses of seven female/female pairs---is one of few to focus on mentor-protege pairs. As such, it contributes to an understanding of the complex relational underpinnings that are at the heart of mentorship.;By closely examining three emotionally charged dynamics---idealization, loyalty, and generativity---this dissertation leaves no doubt that the central paradox of mentorship is that the intimacy that makes personal and professional growth possible can be its own undoing. Evidence shows that the hopes and expectations that grow out of the affectionate and trusting feelings between mentors and proteges are often met with disappointment as they clash with the realities of the instrumental and political motivations of the actors in the relationship as well as with the aggressive, competitive, deadline-oriented, productivity-driven, and unstable forces of organizations, professional life, and flexible capitalism.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
