Formal v Informal Mentoring: Time to Shift the Debate?

Academics and practitioners have been pitted against each other over the relative merits of formal (planned) and informal (unplanned) mentoring. According to the academic studies, formal mentoring delivers far fewer benefits to the mentee than informal. Practitioners, particularly in Europe, maintain that experience does not support that view and, moreover, that uncontrolled informal mentoring can be a highly destructive force that perpetuates inequalities in the workplace.