The Effects of Mentoring Practices on Tennessee Fire Chief Officers' Perceived Career Outcomes
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of both formal and informal mentoring practices and perceived career outcomes among the 139 Fire Chief Officers in the four largest fire departments in Tennessee who participated in this study. Descriptive research methods were used and a survey developed by Wakeham (2003) and Noe (1988) was administered to the participating Chief Officers. The survey measured the perceptions of the participants’ mentoring experiences as they related to their psychosocial development, career development, career mobility, and skills attained. Additionally, the demographic variables of the participants’ years in the fire service, race, level of education, and their ranking in the fire service were analyzed using t-test, and factorial ANOVAs. The results of the data analysis revealed two important findings. The first finding was that the results of the data analysis revealed that there were statistically significant differences among the chief officers’ perceptions of their career outcomes based on their mentoring experiences and their ranking in the fire service. Chief Officers who held higher rankings in the fire service had more positive perceptions of their career outcomes and mentoring experiences compared to lower ranking Chief Officers. The second finding was that there were statistically significant differences among Chief Officers’ perceptions of their mentoring experiences and career outcomes based on their level of education. Chief Officers with associate degrees had more positive perceptions of their mentoring experiences and career outcomes compared to Chief Officers with high school diplomas, bachelors’ degrees, and advanced degrees. No statistically significant differences were found among the Chief Officers’ perceptions of their mentoring experiences and their career outcomes based on their race or the number of years they served in the fire service.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
Manuel A Fonseca,
"The Effects of Mentoring Practices on Tennessee Fire Chief Officers' Perceived Career Outcomes"
(2015).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI10003147.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI10003147