Mentoring has become a hot topic in a number of professional spheres in recent years, but its most important and longest-established location is in education. However, this volume is the first wide-ranging academic critique of the concept and its application. Offering both a critical and a practical stance, the authors examine the historical and cultural aspects of mentoring and the motivations behind it. They also explore the effects on the individuals involved and on the system, and examine the different approaches to the idea and implementation of mentoring. Drawing contributions from Europe, the USA and the Middle East, this work considers a wide range of empirical studies of mentoring from those countries that have invested in it, including case studies and analyses of current practice. The book makes a major contribution, not only on account of the international perspective it provides but also through analysis of cases in order to establish the difference between the much-vaunted theoretical advantages promoted by policy makers and the everyday realities and complexities that arise in a scheme entirely dependent on personal relationships.