Substitutes for career mentoring: Promoting equal opportunity through career management and assessment systems

In this theoretical paper we address the topic of mentoring by describing substitutes for career-oriented mentoring relationships with senior managers. Research propositions are developed that relate these substitutes to the career success of women and nonwhite men in corporations dominated by white male executives. These substitutes can provide ways to overcome career barriers faced by women and nonwhite men, barriers that can be attributable to a lack of equal access to the mentors who are most able to promote career success among their proteges. (C) 1997 Academic Press.