Study on development and application of an educational program to strengthen mentor competence

This study developed and ran an education program for mentors, by examining the necessity of education for mentors in charge of startup mentoring and by finding elements to create an effective mentor educational program. In order to improve mentors’ professionality, the Creation Guardians Mentorship Program, an educational program for mentors, was run 51 times to 368 mentors in 18 Centers for Creative Economy and Innovations from May to December 2016, and a survey on satisfaction was conducted after the educational program ended. The study results were as follows. First, the Creation Guardians Mentorship Program consisted of Module 1. Basic Mentoring Workshop, Module 2. Mentoring Skill Workshop, Module 3. Mentoring Reflection Workshop, and Special Session: software-centered educational workshop for startup mentors. Second, the overall satisfaction of Creation Guardians Mentorship Program was high with an average of 4.47 points (5-point scale). Finally, the survey on the Creation Guardians Mentorship Program showed that it was considered helpful for startup mentoring, but it was difficult for mentors to identify new technological trends in individual mentor’s specialized fields. This study is expected to contribute to the improvement of mentoring quality by enhancing individual mentors’ professionality and competence.