Influence of national culture on mentoring relationship: a qualitative study of Japanese physician-scientists

Abstract

Background: Nurturing of physician-scientists is an important mission of academic medical institutes. Although the importance of mentorship in developing future physician-scientists internationally is well established, not much information is available about how they are mentored and how national cultures influence the mentoring relationship. This study explores the cultural characteristics of mentoring relationships between senior mentors and junior mentees of Japanese physician-scientists. Method: A qualitative approach has been employed to explore mentoring relationships of Japanese physician-scientists from cultural viewpoints, through semi-structured interviews with 17 mentees who had the experience of working overseas as post-doctoral research fellow. The reflection of their experiences and the perception of mentoring relationships before going abroad were thematically analyzed by applying Hofstede’s model of six cultural dimensions as a theoretical framework. Results: Twelve characteristic themes for mentoring were observed, including trustworthy dependency on mentor, embracing paternalistic mentoring, mentee’s initiative within expectations of mentor based on power distance, a sense of loyalty to mentor/organization/colleagues, family-like relationship with mentor based on collectivism, sense of security on being led by mentor through uncertainty avoidance, motivation by role modeling for the competitive academic world, and adaption of female mentee/mentor to a male-dominated academic structure based on masculinity, a long-term relationship between mentor and mentee, receiving advice for organizational continuity based on long-term orientation, putting work before leisure, and friendly relationship between mentor and mentee outside of work based on indulgence. Conclusions: This study identified the characteristic mentoring relationships of postgraduate mentees of Japanese physician-scientists. Considering the importance of mentoring for physician-scientists in a globalized society, understanding the characteristics of national cultures would help in ensuring culture-sensitive mentoring and would contribute to the development of academic medicine.