The article analyzes the development of mentoring in Russia. Mentoring is considered in the system of technological division of labor as a special practice that is the bearer of activity knowledge (as opposed to subject knowledge, the bearer of which is the teacher). The article reveals the development of mentoring practices on the example of the implemented and existing practices “Mentoring Academy” Skolkovo, “Women: School of Mentoring” of the Ministry of Education and Science, mentoring in Accelerators, Fablabs, etc. The competence profile of a mentor is characterized. The results of the study are given: with what projects and for what help students turn to mentors. On the example of the analysis of the implementation of the project “Women: Mentoring School”, the projects developed and implemented by mentors and mentors are characterized. The results of the study are significant for the development of the theory of professional activity, in which a new concept appears — “mentoring” as a type of special professional activity. The applied value of the results obtained is reflected in the search for a mentor’s competence profile and the development of professional standards for mentors.