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T his chapter’s dual purposes are to illuminate the value of utilizing a social network perspective to examine mentoring and to extend a theoretical application of network theory by introducing a new dimension to our understanding of “developmental networks”: developmental initiation. Since Higgins and Kram’s (2001) application of a network lens to mentoring, research on “developmental networks” has begun to proliferate (eg, Chandler & Kram, 2005; Dobrow & Higgins, 2005; Molloy, 2005). In that article, a developmental network perspective was introduced and compared with traditional conceptualizations of mentoring, and two dimensions from social network research were employed to aid in the description of possible developmental network structures: diversity, which refers to the range of sources from which individuals receive developmental help, and strength of ties, which refers to emotional closeness and frequency of communication.

Here, we identify a third dimension that is relevant to the application of a social network perspective to developmental networks: developmental initiation. We define developmental initiation as “a set of development-seeking behaviors undertaken by a focal individual that are intended to enhance his or her skills, knowledge, task performance, and/or personal learning.” Although developmental initiation is not