Abstract
Past research on mentoring relationships has focused almost exclusively on proteges, often to the exclusion of the mentor. Mentoring is a career-enhancing tool associated with significantly positive relationships with such outcomes as protege promotion, satisfaction and pay. Despite the positive attributions made to mentorism, little research has focused on how proteges are selected and which factors lead to the emergence of the mentoring dyad. The current study addresses this deficit by examining the mentoring relationship from the mentor's perspective and constructs a provisional micromodel of protege selection. The current study also extends the use of reciprocal qualitative and quantitative methodologies in the formulation, extension, and validation of theory.