Who mentors undergraduate student researchers? An analysis of faculty involvement at a four-year university

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated a profile of faculty who mentor undergraduate researchers at a four-year Hispanic-serving, public research university. Six variables were investigated: ethnicity, gender, age, tenure status, teaching evaluations, and research productivity. Data were compiled from institutional databases. Findings showed a greater percentage of tenured faculty mentoring undergraduate researchers while the percent of minority UR faculty mentors was consistent with institutional percentages. Additionally, findings included a higher percentage of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Undergraduate Research (UR) underrepresented minority faculty mentors compared to STEM Institution (INST) underrepresented minority faculty. For research productivity, UR faculty mentor funding comprised 28.0% of all external grant awards and 36.0% of all external funding during the sampling period. The majority funding for INST and UR faculty were found to be in the STEM disciplines. These findings provide evidence of potential predictors to describe UR faculty mentor profiles and can be considered important information for determining future educational policies and practices.     

The role of perceived support and local culture in undergraduate research mentoring by underrepresented minority faculty members: findings from a multi-institutional research collaboration

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate research is value-added experiential learning that cultivates creative and intentional learners in and out of the classroom. However, only recently have researchers begun investigating the mechanisms related to mentoring undergraduate researchers, with scant attention being paid to the experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty members. Using unique data collected from an online survey of faculty members (overall N = 215, URM n = 25), we find departmental and institutional support to be the key factors correlated with mentoring undergraduate research students. Reported support is more influential for URM faculty than white faculty, providing evidence of the importance of institutional policy as a mechanism to facilitate URM faculty participation in the high impact practice of mentoring undergraduate researchers. The findings are discussed in the context of institutional initiatives designed to support student and faculty success in the 21st century.     

Design,implementation, and evaluation of a multi-disciplinary professional development program for research mentors

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate research experience has been shown to enhance student learning and improve persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Researchers studying undergraduate research experiences have largely focused on student outcomes and have seldom investigated the outcomes of graduate and postdoctoral mentors. Here, we report a non-credit, year-long mentor professional development program designed for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and research staff in STEM. Mentors attended a series of six interactive and discussion-based workshops and mentored first-year undergraduate students in independent summer research projects. We report evaluation findings for three mentor cohorts using a combination of qualitative analysis of mentoring philosophies and quantitative assessment of pre- and post-surveys about mentoring objectives and skills. Results indicate that mentors gained self-efficacy in some objectives and skills. However, many other objectives and skills remained unchanged. We explore possible explanations for the lack of more broad-scale gains across survey items and present ideas for program improvement.     

Mentoring,Undergraduate Research,and Identity Development: A Conceptual Review and Research Agenda

Mentored undergraduate research has been identified as a high-impact practice that enhances teaching and learning in higher education. It is reported to influence students’ academic, affective, and behavioral outcomes. However, there is only an emerging literature related to student outcomes associated with identity development, specifically students’ personal and professional identities. This integrative literature review examines the intersections and interrelationship across mentoring, undergraduate research, and student identity development. Its results uncover the complexity of the constructs, and their dynamic interrelationship, especially when viewed through the lenses of the sociocultural perspective grounded in the notion of mediated action. Two assumptions undergird this perspective: first, that all investigation takes place at the intersection of these constructs with mediated action, not individuals in isolation, as a unit of analysis; and, second, that any study of identity must focus on an understanding of identity as multiple, dynamic, and situated in personal and cultural contexts (institutional, disciplinary, and external community culture and values). Thus, the sociocultural perspective and its underlying assumptions shape the proposed research agenda. This research agenda has the potential to advance current knowledge related to mentored undergraduate research and the confluence of elements that contribute to student personal and cultural identities (academic, disciplinary, and professional). Findings from this work will inform our understanding of learning and knowledge construction in sociocultural context, and the trajectory of identity development of students engaged in high-impact learning experiences.     

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.     

Constructing academic identity in the changing Russian higher education context: preliminary perspectives

ABSTRACT

Currently, Russian academics are facing significant demands because of a new, urgent requirement to pursue their research in accordance with international standards. Until recently, these academics were used to working within a familiar community and communicating their research via the Russian language, but now, they are expected to move beyond that and function on a global level, which can challenge their academic identities. A qualitative study was carried out in a research-intensive Russian university. The aim was to explore academics’ experiences and perceptions of the dynamic changes in their academic work with a particular focus on the limitations and pressures they meet in their career path towards global research. The data were collected by means of reflective journals during a course on English for academic purposes. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. The results showed that global trends turned out to be unachievable for Russian academics due to the lack of specific knowledge, attributes and skills required to do research globally. This might be the first study from Russia contributing to the literature on academic identity construction. The article provides insights into the experiences and perceptions of Russian academics and offers a research agenda for further investigation to bridge identity shifts in academia. In terms of practical purposes, the results will be used as a source of preliminary data within a broader research project aimed at supporting Russian academics in their research in an international English-speaking academic context.     

Peer mentoring in engineering: (un)shared experience of undergraduate peer mentors and mentees

In this qualitative study, we explored the experiences of 26 engineering student mentors and mentees in a peer mentoring program. We found that mentors and mentees exploited the mentoring program’s fluid structure and situated social relationships to enact a specific type of academic/professional goal and identity conducive to their entry to one of two communities of practice, the on-campus engineering program community and the community of professional engineers. The mentoring program functioned as a social space in which identities of these students converged and diverged, creating a subtle tension and self-reflection in relation to the two different communities of practice that they pursued.     

Developing identity and agency as an early career academic: lessons from Alice

This paper draws on Lewis Carroll’s character of Alice as a metaphor for interrogating identity construction and agency amongst early career academics, a process which can seem like Alice’s pursuit of the White Rabbit in a strange land. Keeping in mind the effects of neoliberalism on the tertiary sector, we recognise the centrality of personal lives in decision-making about academic careers and the shaping of professional identities. We also foreground how communities of practice not only build agency amongst ECAs but can also be supported by academic developers.     

Entry points when undergraduate research mentors reflect on their role: a qualitative case study

Abstract

Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are increasingly taking on mentoring roles in undergraduate research (UR). There is, however, a paucity of research focusing on how they conceptualize their mentoring role. In this qualitative interview study, we identified three entry points that mentors reflect on to define their role: (1) What are the goals of UR? (2) What do the students expect from me? and (3) How should I use my expert knowledge? We discuss how academic developers can use these entry points together with a set of reflective lenses to stimulate critical reflection on the mentoring role and help the mentors to define their role and help the mentors to define their role.     

Academics at work: mentoring in research,teaching, and service

Abstract

This qualitative interview study investigates how mentoring is used to develop knowledge and skills for early career academics across the academic roles of research, teaching, and service. Results indicate similar amounts of mentoring in research for men and women, more mentoring in teaching for women, and a lack of mentoring in service across gender. Methodological, theoretical, and practical implications for institutions of higher education are discussed, particularly those aimed at addressing inequality for women.     

Knowledge recontextualisation in academic development: an empirical exploration of an emerging academic region

As an emerging field within higher education, academic development remains fragmented, both as a field of theory and practice. In the vibrant, on-going debate about the theoretical foundations and directions of academic development as a nascent field, some relatively wide-ranging claims which have been made seem to be lacking in supporting empirical evidence. With regards to this limitation, this paper contends that more systematic empirical explorations of the knowledge-base of academic development are vital to gain a better understanding of the field. Informed by Bernstein’s social realist frameworks on the structure of academic knowledge, the paper presents an analysis of knowledge recontextualisation processes in two English and two Flemish academic development units, based on semi-structured interviews with 30 academic developers. From the analysis, contrasting patterns of knowledge recontextualisation emerged between the four sites and between the national contexts in particular, pointing towards an increasing epistemological fragmentation.     

Understanding the role of the mentor in developing research competency among undergraduate researchers

Undergraduate research and creative activities are established high-impact practices that provide students with both advanced knowledge of their academic disciplines and the ability to apply that knowledge to creatively answer questions. At the center of these experiences, is the close relationship between a student researcher and a mentor. Using survey data from 69 recent undergraduate researchers at one university, we investigated the characteristics and impact of these mentor–mentee relationships. We found that active mentoring practices were a significant influence on how competent students perceived themselves as scholars. These practices were more influential than practical aspects of mentoring. Our findings reflect the complicated nature of mentoring in higher education and identify key characteristics of successful mentoring relationships. With greater understanding of this essential component of undergraduate research, we are equipped to make more informed decisions regarding faculty and administrative support for future undergraduate research and creative activities.     

终身教职与非对称信息:一项激励研究型大学教师发展的制度安排

From the perspective of asymmetric information, a principal-agent model is used to put forward a new theoretical explanation for the validity and effectiveness of tenure. Furthermore, through an analysis of the conditions of implementing an effective tenure system, it is argued that such a system is more efficient in research universities. Based on the above conclusions, the paper also discusses the condition or time for the implementation of tenure in Chinese universities. __________ Translated from Fudan Jiaoyu Luntan 复旦教育论坛(Fudan Education Forum), 2007, 15(3): 57–62     

Assessing mentoring in organizations: an evaluation of commercial mentoring instruments

The purpose of this article is to inform readers about the types of instruments available for assessing and improving mentoring in organizations. Extensive review of the psychological, business and medical literature was conducted to identify commercially published, practitioner‐oriented instruments. All of the instruments that were identified – including the Alleman mentoring activities questionnaire, Mentoring in the moment, Mentoring skills assessment, and Principles of adult mentoring scale – are evaluated herein. Each instrument’s target audience, raters, subscales, response options, psychometric properties, and relative strengths and weaknesses are described. Although these instruments are reported to be used extensively, evidence of their validity is not always available. This review presents information that, in combination with first‐hand inspection of the instruments, should enable practitioners to differentiate between instruments that may be a fit for their needs from those that are not. Furthermore, it may introduce academic readers to instruments that are not covered in the scholarly literature in spite of their common use for non‐research purposes.     

Undergraduate students as partners in new faculty orientation and academic development

Addressing both the increasingly complex process of becoming an educator at the tertiary level and the growing recognition of the importance of student engagement, student–faculty partnerships have emerged as one way of fundamentally rethinking academic development. Participant reflections suggest that the over-time, partnership approach to orientation and development presented in this article effectively supports new faculty as they develop their academic identities. The approach includes opportunities for dialogue and collaboration with students offered before new faculty arrive on campus, as part of orientation before classes begin, during the first semesters of teaching, and in subsequent semesters.     

Women mentoring in the academe: a faculty cross-racial and cross-cultural experience

Two women faculty members, one White from the southeastern United States and one Black African from Zimbabwe, purposefully explored their informal mentoring relationship with the goal of illuminating the complexities associated with their cross-racial, cross-cultural experience. Concentrating on their four-year mentor-mentee academic relationship at a predominantly White institution (PWI), these women employed a dialogic duoethnographic methodology to uncover emerging, nuanced characteristics contributing to the positive nature of their mentoring experience. Calling upon a seminal nine-function mentoring framework focused on advancing mentee personal growth and professional advancement, the authors, engaged in critical interplay of dialogic considerations of their mentoring experiences, relationship, and literature. The authors revealed a distinct cross-cultural and cross-racial journey where each, as participant researcher, uncovered a deeper appreciation for the importance of engaged dialog. Emerging is a complex interplay of understandings about trust, care, and power dynamics as factors in defining mentoring relationships that work for good.     

Conceptualizing impact in academic development: finding a way through

This paper explores the notion of impact in the context of academic development programs and considers how it can be described and understood. We argue that impact has a range of meanings and academic development programs such as graduate certificates have a broad group of stakeholders and hence the impact is different for each group depending on how the program aims and objectives are defined and understood. In finding a way through the difficulties of evaluating impact in academic development we point to the importance of clearly conceptualizing the notion of impact, a careful identification of the assumptions underpinning any program and an understanding of who academic development will benefit and how. We suggest that impact in academic development cannot be understood without taking account of the range of possible impacts and the difficulty of attributing simple cause and effect to a complex environment.     

Building community in academic settings: the importance of flexibility in a structured mentoring program

Academic mentoring is increasingly being used by many universities as a tool to enhance the quality of research‐led teaching, promote cross‐faculty collaboration and encourage a mentoring culture and community. This article reports on a pilot project established to investigate the benefits of building flexibility into a structured academic mentoring program at the University of Sydney. Twenty‐six academics from the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Education and Social Work participated in the program. The mentors ranged in position from lecturer to professor and the mentees from associate lecturer to senior lecturer. Flexible arrangements were shown to be important in a variety of ways, from the pairing of mentor with mentee, to focussing on issues of work survival and life balance, research outcomes and career advancement. The project highlighted the lower number of male academics involved in formal mentoring, which merits further exploration. All participants reported positive outcomes, although refinement of the pairing process was recommended. A variety of unanticipated outcomes was reported by mentees.     

Emeriti faculty as mentors: the benefits and rewards of mentoring the next generation

ABSTRACT

This holistic single-case study reports on the benefits mentors derived from participating in the Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) mentoring program. The IMPACT program was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering 15–7680 (awards #1542728 and #1542524). In this program, emeriti faculty were matched with underrepresented minority faculty in the engineering professoriate for career-focused mentorship. The conceptual framework of the Benefits of Being a Mentor grounded this study. Findings indicate mentors appreciate the opportunity to give back and remain engaged in the field, to relive past academic career experiences, and to support the next generation of engineering professors while adjusting to retirement. These findings aligned with the conceptual framework on three factors: rewarding experience, improved job performance, and generativity. Implications for administrators and faculty, as well as additional research areas, are discussed.     

Evaluating the impact of an academic teacher development program: practical realities of an evidence-based study

This study aimed to assess the impact of an entire academic teacher development programme at a Midwestern masters comprehensive university in the United States over a period of five years by examining changes in teaching and student outcomes of nine randomly selected programme participants. Researchers analysed syllabi, course evaluations, grade distributions, programme activity reports, interviews and vita, and concluded that the centre’s impact was greatest on tenure-track faculty who struggled with their teaching. Far more useful to future improvement, however, were the insights gained from reflection on study methods, the researchers’ emotional responses to their findings, their struggle to make sense of the data and grappling with the definition of ‘impact’. In this paper, the researchers share useful lessons learned and illustrate the difficulties inherent in evaluating academic development programmes, with a view to qualifying recommendations currently prevailing in the literature.