ABSTRACT
Asian American and mentoring are not words that are frequently paired. A computerized search of articles published between 1974 and 1995 revealed no articles on the mentorship of Asian Americans in business or educational settings. Buried within one volume (Thomas, 1991) was a clue as to what might account for the lack of attention: Asian Americans tend not to have mentors, nor do they participate in mentoring programs. At Culbertson Industries Defense Application Laboratory, R.R.Thomas (1991) interviewed successful managers in five categories: White men, White women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Asian Americans were least likely to say they had had a mentor. Overall, 62% of the respondents had a mentor, but only 43% of the Asian Americans were mentored. Meanwhile, 54% of the African Americans and 53% of the Hispanic Americans had mentors. In addition, Asian Americans were significantly less satisfied with their mentoring experiences than were other minorities.
