Benefits of Peer Mentoring to Mentors,Female Mentees and Higher Education Institutions

In this article, we discuss a study of a pilot mentoring program for early career female researchers at a university that addressed the under-representation of female researchers in senior academic positions. Embracing a grounded theory approach, we draw on a design comprising an ex-ante and an ex-post evaluation. We disclose that development mentoring was at play. Benefits for the mentees consisted of guidance to career planning, competence awareness, establishment of networks, navigating in the research environment, and moral support. In our study we also show that the mentor–mentee relationship was reciprocal, as also mentors benefited. Benefits for the mentors comprised professional development, institutional recognition, and personal satisfaction. We conclude with an inventory of benefits, including for the institution in terms of a strengthened research environment.     

The Experiences of Selected Mentors: A Cross-cultural Examination of the Dyadic Relationship in School-based Mentoring

To address comprehensive program services that are self-sustaining and systemic in nature, school counselors and educational leaders have increasingly implemented school-based mentoring to impact student and school success. In this qualitative case study, we examined the experiences of 11 selected mentors and their respective dyadic relationships in school-based mentoring with at-risk elementary school students to understand ways mentors might better form closer dyadic bonds yielding longer mentoring relationships. Four metathemes emerged: (a) encouragement, (b) relating style, (c) time and presence, and (d) language nuances. Specific components within these metathemes increased both synergy in the dyad and satisfaction for the mentors. Ethnic and cultural dyad characteristics are discussed and presented via proposed effective practices for cross-cultural, cross-age mentoring.     

How an Evolution View of Workplace Mentoring Relationships Helps Avoid Negative Experiences: The Developmental Relationship Mentoring Model in Action

In this paper, we explore how the use of a specific mentoring model focusing on the evolution of the relationship between mentor and mentee, may influence the incidence of failure. In our research we employed a case study methodology to examine a regional public service mentoring scheme in the UK where a developmental relationship mentoring model had been developed and used to guide practice. Findings indicated toxicity and negative outcomes may be positively influenced by mentor motivation and emotional intelligence, and can be avoided when there is awareness of how relationships develop and evolve. For example, the use of contracting in the early stages can limit the mismatched expectations that provoke disappointment, but equally mentor actions at other stages play key roles in reducing potential failure. Our study has implications for the enhancement of mentor training and scheme coordination as well as contributing to the understanding of negative mentoring relationships.     

Initial Characteristics and Mentoring Satisfaction of College Women Mentoring Youth: Implications for Training

Being a youth mentor is popular among college students, yet little is known about how their initial characteristics are related to mentoring satisfaction. Survey data from college women enrolled in a youth mentoring program (n = 158) and a comparison group (n = 136) were analyzed to determine how initial characteristics of youth mentors (a) differ from comparisons and (b) are associated with mentors’ satisfaction. Mentors reported higher autonomy, cultural sensitivity, and lower depression pre-participation than the comparison group, and their pre-participation GPA, cognitive empathy, and depression predicted post-participation mentoring satisfaction. Implications for mentor training are discussed.     

The Development and Design of a Framework to Match Mentees and Mentors Through a Systematic Review andThematic Analysis of Mentoring Programs Between 2000 and 2015

ABSTRACT

The need for longitudinal and holistic support of medical students throughout their training has led to the development of formal mentoring programs. Whilst success of formal mentoring programs has been attributed to (a) pairing mentees with trained and experienced mentors (matching), (b) the quality of mentoring interactions and (c) the presence of a nurturing environment, little attention has been attributed to establishing an effective matching process in medical school. We sought, in this review, to redress this gap within the context of matching medical students for mentoring. Modified PRISMA guidelines were followed to guide the review process. PubMed, ERIC, Cochrane Database, OVID and ScienceDirect databases were searched for articles on matching in medical schools and in allied health specialities published between 2000 and 2015.     

Virtues of Mentors and Mentees in the Finnish Model of Teachers’ Peer-group Mentoring

ABSTRACT

This study investigated participants’ conceptions of the ideal mentor and mentee in the Finnish model of peer-group mentoring (PGM). Existing mentoring research emphasises dyadic practices, yet there is a lack of investigation of participants’ roles in group mentoring. The main concepts of this inquiry were dispositions (habitus) and virtues drawing on the theory of practice architectures and Aristotelian virtue philosophy. Methodologically, the study can be identified as philosophical-empirical inquiry that utilises a narrative and hermeneutical approach to analyse qualitative data from 30 respondents. As its central finding, the study identified a set of core characteristics that describe the virtues and vices of a mentor and mentee based on the participants’ views. Overall, these characteristics reflected ideas of relatings (peerness, equality), proactive and reactive participation, and presence in the group. Characteristics focused on the social aspect of dispositions in peer-group mentoring.     

Mentoring in Contexts of Cultural and Political Friction: Moral Dilemmas of Mentors and Their Management in Practice

This paper examines the nature of moral dilemmas mentors from three different national groups (Jewish, Druze, and Arab) encounter in their work in Israeli Arab schools, how they manage these dilemmas in practice, and how the nature of particular dilemmas might connect to their management strategies. Given the multicultural and politically conflictive context of the Israeli society, a cultural and political reading of in-service mentors’ moral dilemmas reveals that mentors’ encounter and management of recurrent moral dilemmas is embedded in cultural and political issues in a way that seem to hinder their mentoring practice. Preparation programs for mentors need to highlight awareness of mentors’ own culture and that of their mentees in order to implement a culturally and politically responsive practice.     

The Components of On-Site Mentoring Contracts: Perceptions of Israeli Mentors and School Counseling Interns

This study examined the perceptions of 159 on-site mentor counselors and 172 school counseling interns from four graduate programs in Israel regarding the main components of working contracts during school-based internships. Qualitative analysis led to data clustering into four broad categories: a) rules and procedures; b) the intern’s work: objectives, content and boundaries; c) the mentoring relationship; and d) ethical standards of practice. Differences between mentors and interns within each category are discussed as well as the possibility of developing a standardized core contract as a platform from which to negotiate unique customized contracts.     

Theoretical Development,Factorial Validity,and Reliability of the Online Graduate Mentoring Scale

In this study, we sought to confirm the theoretical framework underlying an Online Graduate Mentoring Scale by establishing the scale’s factorial validity and reliability. Analysis of data received from doctoral students and alumni/ae of the College of Education of one large, online, accredited university reduced the initial theoretical framework from seven to six attributes, and resulted in a revision of the scale. Further research is needed to test the theoretical framework with other relevant populations and to refine the scale itself by reducing skewness and attaining item balance.     

Academic dishonesty,ethical norms and learning

This study is aimed to deduce which ethical norms and considerations are implicitly present in the students’ answers when they are asked to define to what degree the presented actions in a questionnaire are acts of cheating. Data are analysed by factor analysis as well as qualitative analysis. The questions asked are: What characterises the items regarded as cheating? What characterises the items not regarded as cheating? The implicit logic in the students’ attitudes is: The lower the degree of effort and work, the lower degree of learning can be expected; the lower is the degree of learning, the higher will be the degree of academic dishonesty. If the academic dishonesty does promote learning, it can be morally justified by mixed arguments from three ethical theories, consequentialist, deontology and virtue ethics.     

Overlooked aspects in the education of science professionals: Mentoring,ethics, and professional responsibility

Science as profession is generally defined narrowly as research. Science education as preparation for a profession in research is usually perceived as course work and laboratory training, even though the necessary knowledge and skills to pursue a research career are more extensive and diverse and are learned in one-on-one interaction with mentors. A complete education of science professionals includes the values, ethical standards and conventions of the discipline since they are fundamental to the profession. Mentoring and education in the responsible conduct and reporting of research and in the ethical dimensions of science are among the professional responsibilities of scientists and need to be discussed as part of science education. Moreover, science as an enterprise is much more than research and includes a number of other components, including science teaching, science journalism, and science policy. Each of these contributes to the nature of science and its role in society.     

Experiences of bullying-related behaviours by English and Zambian pupils: a comparative study

Experiences of behaviours associated with bullying were compared between English and Zambian primary and secondary school pupils. Findings showed different patterns in the incidence of various types of behaviour for English and Zambian pupils overall and across age, school level and gender. English pupils generally reported experiencing proportionally more incidents of bullying-related behaviour than Zambian pupils. Proportionally more boys than girls reported such behaviours in both countries but these differences were only significant among English pupils. These findings are discussed as indicating possible differences in the salience of various types of behaviour, which are a function of age and gender in the two countries studied. Cultural and/or national differences in educational structures that may account for the differences are explored.     

Factors affecting the motivation to learn among United Arab Emirates middle and high school students

This study was designed to examine the relative contributions of student and parents’ socio‐demographics, students’ beliefs about learning, parental support of children’s learning, peers’ attitudes towards learning, teacher–student interaction and curriculum content to students’ motivation to learn. The sample consisted of 275 school‐age children ranging from 12 to 16 years old. All measures were constructed for the purpose of this study. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to predict student motivation to learn. Results indicated that students’ beliefs about learning, teacher–student interaction and curriculum content contributed to the United Arab Emirates middle and high school students’ motivation to learn. Implications for research are discussed.     

Weaving Together Undergraduate Research, Mentoring of Junior Faculty, and Assessment: The Case of an Interdisciplinary Program

Scholars in teaching and learning value student research and program assessment as strategies to promote excellence in undergraduate education. Yet, in practice, each can be complex and difficult to sustain. This case study demonstrates how undergraduate research, mentoring of junior faculty, and assessment can be integrated in ways that enrich the educational experiences of students and the professional development of faculty and improve research on teaching and learning. The authors describe a lively undergraduate research project that became tied to the mentoring of assistant professors and then to program assessment. We conclude with recommendations for implementing such a project in other academic settings. Elizabeth Thomas is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and teaches courses on inquiry in the social sciences, community psychology, and psychology and the arts. Her research examines sociocultural contexts for learning and development with a particular focus on the role of the arts and the potential of participatory action research strategies. Diane Gillespie is Professor and Associate Director of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) at The University of Washington, Bothell, received her Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln in Cultural and Psychological Studies in Education. She teaches multicultural social science courses and qualitative research. Her recent publications explore the importance of narrative for reflective teaching and learning, learning in small groups, and the role of human rights in nonformal education.     

Help-Seeking Experiences and Attitudes among African American, Asian American, and European American College Students

The study examined African American, Asian American, and European American college students’ previous direct and indirect experiences of seeking professional psychological services and related attitudes. Survey data were collected from 254 European American, 182 African American and 82 Asian American college students. Results revealed that fewer African American and Asian American college students had sought professional psychological services, knew someone who had sought psychological services, and knew a close person who was diagnosed with a psychological disorder, relative to European American students. Furthermore, African American and Asian American participants showed less favorable attitudes on a variety of help-seeking attitudes, compared to the European American group.     

教研组和年级组以及备课组角色定位及差异研究

通过分析中小学教研组和年级组以及备课组的特点和差异,充分认识、发挥各自的功能与作用,对于改进学校教育教学管理具有一定的现实意义。     

Attitudes of academic staff towards their own work and towards external evaluation,from the perspective of self-determination theory: Estonian case

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the attitudes of academic staff towards their own work as well as towards external evaluations. The study was based on (1) an analysis of assessment reports of institutional accreditations conducted by the Estonian Quality Agency for Higher and Vocational Education and (2) self-determination theory on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The satisfaction of academic staff with their own teaching and research competencies was measured and links among the following attitudes were analysed: sense of competence, intrinsic motivation for research, attitudes towards assessment of students and towards external evaluations. The results indicate that a correlation between attitudes towards work and towards external evaluation exists and that the attitudes of academic staff at universities and professional higher education institutions differ. The study involved 252 academic staff members and showed that competent and intrinsically motivated people perceive external evaluation more positively, thus supporting self-determination theory.     

福建省行业收入差距与经济增长的协整分析

运用格兰杰因果检验、协整检验和误差修正模型,利用1985—2009年的经济数据对福建省行业收入差距和经济增长的关系进行了实证分析,结果表明福建省经济增长和行业收入差距存在长期均衡关系,经济增长是行业收入差距的格兰杰原因。