Entrepreneurial Mentoring in Business Incubation Centers of Pakistan: An Exploratory Study of Mentors’ Perceptions

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.