The Experiences of Retired Managers Acting as Volunteers in an Entrepreneurial Mentoring Organization

Abstract

Volunteering in later life is an important way of staying involved in one’s community and engaging in a meaningful activity that has a positive impact on others. Previous research has mainly described the antecedents and consequences of volunteering; the process and experiences associated with performing this role has been less studied. The aim of this study was to assess the positive and negative experiences of older managers involved in an entrepreneurial mentoring organization. Fourteen older male volunteers were administered a semi-structured interview and the data obtained were analyzed thematically. The themes that emerged were the importance of the final result as a filter to assess the whole mentoring experience, the mentor-mentee bond, and the self-attribution of successes and failures. These themes were discussed using the generativity theory as a framework to understand the experiences of older adults keen to pass on their skills and knowledge to a younger generation.