For careers in public service, meritocracy is espoused and idealized with formal structures for advancement. However, career development is also relational. Scholars have long discussed the benefits of mentoring both for psychosocial support and career advancement in organizations. While mentoring is recognized as important for career advancement, less is known about the nature of mentoring in male-dominated public sector organizations. In this paper we explore how mentoring functions in the U.S. Army—a male-dominated public service organization. Using data from a mixed method study, including survey data from approximately 1,200 Army personnel and analysis of 27 focus groups with 198 participants, we find that mentoring quality matters for all employees, but it matters more for women. We also find that mentoring is gendered, shaping the career trajectories of women and men in different ways.

对于公共服务的职业生涯，精英管理受到拥护和理想化，并具有正式的晋升结构。然而，职业发展也是相关的。长期以来，学者们一直在讨论指导对组织的社会心理支持和职业发展的好处。虽然指导被认为对职业​​发展很重要，但对男性主导的公共部门组织中指导的性质知之甚少。在本文中，我们探讨了指导在美国陆军（一个男性主导的公共服务组织）中的作用。使用来自混合方法研究的数据，包括来自大约 1,200 名陆军人员的调查数据和对 27 个焦点小组的分析和 198 名参与者的分析，我们发现指导质量对所有员工都很重要，但对女性更重要。我们还发现指导是性别化的，