The master's thesis deals with e-mentoring as a specific form of mentoring in higher
education, with a special focus on the Faculty of Economics in Maribor. The theoretical part
presents various models of mentoring, their characteristics, and key elements such as trust,
acceptance, and flexibility, which take on new dimensions in the digital environment. The
advantages and challenges of e-mentoring are analyzed, including issues of technical support,
the role of the e-mentor, the institutional framework, and the dynamics of the relationship
between the student, e-mentor, and higher education teacher. The empirical part of the
research focuses on understanding the role of e-mentors at Doba Faculty, who act as a link
between students and university teachers and provide pedagogical, technical, and
motivational support.
The qualitative research, based on interviews with students, university teachers, e-mentors,
and the management of the Doba Faculty in Maribor, focuses on the following questions how
roles, tasks, and responsibilities are determined, distributed, and delimited in a multipartite
mentoring relationship; how students perceive and experience the demarcation of roles, tasks,
and responsibilities between university teachers and e-mentors; what advantages, challenges,
and elements of effective e-mentoring they recognize; what institutional support is available
to the various participants in the mentoring process and how all stakeholders assess these
existing institutional support mechanisms in accordance with the elements of effective
e-mentoring?
The findings show that the roles of the teacher, e-mentor, and institution are formally clearly
defined, but their actual demarcation and effectiveness are based on constant communication,
reflection, and adaptation. Students shape the difference between the teacher and the
e-mentor through experience, perceiving the e-mentor as social and motivational support and
the teacher as an academic leader. The effectiveness of e-mentoring is demonstrated by a
combination of structural clarity, process responsiveness, and the empathetic presence of the
e-mentor. Institutional support is crucial, but it must be reflective and inclusive to enable the
sustainable development of e-mentoring as an integral part of organizational culture.
|
