Abstract:
The present study aims to investigate mentors` perceptions about entrepreneurial mentoring in
Business Incubation Centers of Pakistan. The framework of Qualitative Research was used to
deeply explore individuals` perspectives, beliefs, attitudes, and experiences. For the purpose of
data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted electronically through online
voice/video call. Entrepreneurial mentors who have at least one year of experience of mentoring
were interviewed to better understand their mentoring experiences. Using an inductive approach,
data was collected from 15 entrepreneurial mentors from universities and private sectors of
Business Incubation Centers. The Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) was
used to analyze the data. Findings have suggested that Private BICs effectively fulfilled essential
tasks such as training mentors and mentees and providing adequate facilities for entrepreneurial
mentoring. In contrast, university-led BICs lagged in these areas, leading to higher satisfaction
reported by mentors in private business incubators compared to their counterparts in university led ones. Moreover, the results of the current study demonstrate that the integration of
fundamental entrepreneurial mentoring managerial tasks and the characteristics exhibited by
accomplished mentors can lead to the attainment of optimal entrepreneurial mentoring. Keeping
in mind the challenges entrepreneurial mentors face, present study has brought attention for
career guidance practitioners to work on entrepreneurial mentors and mentees professional and
career development for better entrepreneurial mentoring outcomes.
