An inquiry into reverse mentoring: A case study of research assistants

Mentoring, which is a assistance and communion relation that aims training, learning and develop-ment, is expressed as experienced and and older employee guding inexperienced and young emplo-yees. In terms of human resources management, mentoring is used both as a training and development practice and career management appliance. Mentoring, as one of the oldest practices that is used from past to present, has been in existence by updating itself in various ways. One of these new mentoring approaches is reverse mentoring. Reverse mentoring represents the rela-tionship between a young employee as mentor and an older and more experienced employee assumed the role of mentee. Reverse mentoring also known as young mentoring is a mentoring relationship in which the mentor has a lower hierarchical position than the mentee. Universities are one of the most suitable environment in order to reveal these nwe understanding that occured from the expectations of generation Y entered the working life with the need tos hare information. The aim of this study is to address reverse mentorng in the context of the relationship between the research assistant and consul-tants and to examine the existence of reverse mentoring. In the research, that is qualitative, interviews and participant observation are used as research tools. 16 research assistants are interviewed in-depth using the semi-structured questionnaire. The reverse men-toring assessments were asked to the research assistants in the terms of the relation with their consul-tants and the data obtained are analyzed according to descriptive analysis. According to the findings of the study; it is seen that in the relationship between the research asisstant and the consultant the sub functions as the information sharing, exposure and visibility, challenging ideas, social networks and new perspective emerges that are the part of the reverse mentoring functi-ons as career, psycho-social and role model. The other functions take place at a limited level or they are not found.