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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.
... Faculty might be less engaged in mentoring undergraduate students due to their other priorities (Chamely-Wiik et al., 2020). At R1 institutions, like the setting of the current study, when faculty members are overwhelmed with their research involvements, graduate students can mentor undergraduate students who are interested in research and graduate studies. ...
This evidence-based practice paper investigates how an intercultural mentoring relationship can flourish and be maintained. Also, it attends to the role of intercultural competence in undergraduate research. As the participants of this collaborative autoethnography, we, the authors, reflect on our mentoring practice for 9 months across 16 sessions. We show how our roles as mentor and mentee evolved gradually with time and through inquiry. Moreover, we demonstrate how we avoided possible interruption to our mentoring relationship by maintaining transparency and clear communication. Using our lived experience, we propose a model for intercultural mentoring practices in undergraduate research and provide implications of using graduate-undergraduate student mentoring for research-oriented universities.
This study examined how academic and faculty mentoring experience in public and private colleges make a long-term impact on people’s intellectual lives, careers, interpersonal relationships, and personal development. This study employed a qualitative case study research methodology with twenty-four alumni who graduated from either a private liberal arts college or a public R1 university. For data collection, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and telephone interviews were employed for this purpose. Collected interview data were transcribed for analysis. The findings illuminate ways in which college experience affects the graduates’ lives many years after they graduated. Based on the findings, implications for research and practice are discussed.
The objective of this research was to document experiences on tutorials from the perspective of tutors of the Polivirtual system at the National Polytechnic Institute. The work opted for a qualitative methodology and followed the research question: What challenges do tutors face in the Polivirtual system? The study was non-experimental, with a cross-sectional and exploratory design, and used a nonprobabilistic and heterogeneou sample. The results obtained showed that the tutorial action is based on constant challenges, skills, strategies, digital media and the experiences of the tutors themselves. In addition, the research provided useful information about the tutor and their challenges in the Polivirtual system, while finding new trends and data whitin this topic, relevant for future and more introspective investigations. It is concluded that the tutorial activity alternates with other academic, administrative, training and even personal activities, which should be understood as challenges faced by tutors, although not generalizable or definitive.
Working at a teaching intensive university, it is often challenging to balance the demands of teaching and research. It is even more difficult to incorporate undergraduate research into the mix, despite knowing the benefits of this practice, when that culture is not present in your particular program. This article offers insight into how one group of teacher educators embedded undergraduate research into an existing research project and the lessons the faculty and students learned along the way.
This study examines how Undergraduate Research (UR) mentoring fits into the career profile of award-winning UR mentors and the factors that motivate engagement as UR mentors. Twenty-four award-winning UR mentors in four countries were interviewed about their mentoring practices. Six themes emerged: (1) Academic Identity and Motivations; (2) Challenges to Academic Identity and Career Development; (3) Enhanced Research Productivity; (4) Recognition and Reward; (5) Institution Values Commitment and (6) Developing Other Mentors. The authors discuss these themes and how the findings can be utilized for academic development and identity formation for faculty.
Although an increasing number of studies have examined students’ participation in undergraduate research (UR), little is known about faculty perceptions of mentoring in this context. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate four aspects of mentoring UR, including how faculty define high-quality UR mentoring and operationalize it in practice; what the perceived benefits and challenges of UR participation are for mentors and students; how mentoring relates to faculty perceptions of their other roles (teachers, advisors, and scholars); and how participation in various communities of practice influences UR mentoring. Sixty faculty respondents at a private, midsized comprehensive institution completed an online survey. In a series of qualitative analyses, responses to open-ended questions were coded as instrumental, psychosocial, or blended. Analyses revealed that faculty perceptions of UR mentoring were impacted by faculty approach to UR mentoring and faculty rank. These findings may be helpful in the development of UR programs and faculty support programming.
Undergraduate research (UR) is a valued co-curricular activity that has involved an increasing number of students and faculty members in recent years. While there is a growing body of research on student participation in UR, there is less research available examining faculty perceptions of, participation in UR, and how those factors influence student participation in UR. This study examined approximately 110,000 responses to the National Survey of Student Engagement and 40,000 responses to the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement at over 450 four-year institutions. Findings revealed that individual and institutional characteristics predicted student and faculty member involvement and that the majority of faculty members perceived UR to be of importance. Implications for fostering faculty involvement, student success, and viewing UR as an institutional asset are discussed.
Successfully recruiting students from underrepresented groups to pursue biomedical science research careers continues to be a challenge. Early exposure to scientific research is often cited as a powerful means to attract research scholars with the research mentor being critical in facilitating the development of an individual's science identity and career; however, most mentors in the biological sciences have had little formal training in working with research mentees. To better understand mentors' experiences working with undergraduates in the laboratory, we conducted semistructured interviews with 15 research mentors at a public university in the Midwest. The interviewed mentors were part of a program designed to increase the number of American Indians pursuing biomedical/biobehavioral research careers and represented a broad array of perspectives, including equal representation of male and female mentors, mentors from underrepresented groups, mentors at different levels of their careers, and mentors from undergraduate and professional school departments. The mentors identified benefits and challenges in being an effective mentor. We also explored what the term underrepresented means to the mentors and discovered that most of the mentors had an incomplete understanding about how differences in culture could contribute to underrepresented students' experience in the laboratory. Our interviews identify issues relevant to designing programs and courses focused on undergraduate student research.
This article evaluates the impact of a program promoting
student-faculty research partnerships on college student retention.
The program, built on the premise that successful retention efforts
integrate students into the core academic mission of the university,
targets first-year and sophomore undergraduates. Findings of a
participant-control group design show that the research
partnerships are most effective in promoting the retention of
students at greater risk for college attritionÑAfrican American
students and students with low GPAs.
This study examines the association between undergraduate research participation and college success in the biological sciences. We find that undergraduate research participation is significantly associated with earning a baccalaureate degree and with persistence and outstanding performance among biology majors for all racial/ethnic groups at a large research university.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine mentoring relationships involving minority graduate students in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors take a multifaceted approach to providing strategies to improve the opportunities of minority students to acquire mentors by directing attention to institutional practices, faculty development, and the behaviors of students themselves.
Findings
– Mentoring relationships provide critical personal and professional development opportunities throughout one's career. These relationships are especially important for racial minorities who often lack access to informal networks and information that is required to be successful in academic and professional environments in which they are under‐represented. The lack of mentors for minority graduate students is important to consider given the potential impact of this experience for minority graduate students’ retention and subsequent success, but also for the future diversity of the discipline (especially its instruction and research). This article identifies the challenges that minority graduate students confront in establishing healthy mentoring relationships, and the unfortunate outcomes of when minority graduate students lack productive mentoring relationships.
Originality/value
– The paper provides a multilevel analysis of mentoring of minority graduate students.
Academicians have been arguing for decades about whether or not faculty research supports undergraduate instruction. Those who say it does—a group that includes most administrators and faculty members—cite many ways in which research can enrich teaching, while those on the other side cite numerous studies that have consistently failed to show a measurable linkage between the two activities. This article proposes that the two sides are debating different propositions: whether research can support teaching in principle and whether it has been shown to do so in practice. The article reviews the literature on the current state of the research-teaching nexus and then examines three specific strategies for integrating teaching and scholarship: bringing research into the classroom, involving undergraduates in research projects, and broadening the definition of scholarship beyond frontier discipli-nary research. Finally, ways are suggested to better realize the potential synergies between faculty research and undergraduate education.
A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of an educational intervention program designed to reduce the attrition of minorities from the biological sciences was undertaken to ascertain whether such efforts adequately address the problem. Program participants had greater odds of persisting in basic math and science courses, and of graduating in biology, than did a comparison group, controlling for demographics and academic preparation. Undergraduate research greatly increased the odds of positive graduation outcomes. Program participants were also more likely to pursue graduate study than were university graduates overall. This evaluation demonstrates the value of such programs in increasing the representation of minorities in science. ? 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 861-881, 2004.
Despite the many benefits of involving undergraduates in research and the growing number of undergraduate research programs, few scholars have investigated the factors that affect faculty members' decisions to involve undergraduates in their research projects. We investigated the individual factors and institutional contexts that predict faculty members' likelihood of engaging undergraduates in their research project(s). Using data from the Higher Education Research Institute's 2007-2008 Faculty Survey, we employ hierarchical generalized linear modeling to analyze data from 4,832 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty across 194 institutions to examine how organizational citizenship behavior theory and social exchange theory relate to mentoring students in research. Key findings show that faculty who work in the life sciences and those who receive government funding for their research are more likely to involve undergraduates in their research project(s). In addition, faculty at liberal arts or historically Black colleges are significantly more likely to involve undergraduate students in research. Implications for advancing undergraduate research opportunities are discussed.
There is increasing evidence of the positive effects of mentoring in medical undergraduate programmes, but as far as we know, no studies on the effects for the mentors have yet been described in the field of medicine.
This study aims to evaluate an undergraduate mentor programme from the mentors' perspective, focusing particularly on the effect of mentorship, the relationships between mentoring and teaching and the mentors' perceived professional and personal development.
Data was gathered through a questionnaire to all 83 mentors (response rate 75%) and semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of 10 mentors.
Findings show, for example, that a majority of respondents developed their teaching as a result of their mentorship and improved their relations with students. Most respondents also claimed that being a mentor led to an increased interest in teaching and increased reflections regarding their own values and work practices.
Being a mentor was perceived as rewarding and may lead to both personal and professional development.
An undergraduate program involving mentorship, summer and other workshops, and targeting high-achieving high school students improves participation of underrepresented minorities in science.
Few scholars have comprehensively examined benefits of undergraduate research (UGR) participation for students at an institution campus-wide. In this study we examined benefits of UGR participation at a Hispanic-majority institution using National Survey of Student Engagement data. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the influence of UGR participation on 5 student outcomes: gains in knowledge and skills, institutional support, overall satisfaction, grade point average, and student–faculty interaction. Results indicate that UGR participation is a robust positive predictor of all 5 outcomes. We provide insights into strategies for enhancing the beneficial impacts of UGR participation, especially for students from underrepresented groups.
There is a need for minority faculty in higher education due to the increase in minority high school graduates and higher education enrollees. Faculty members who are tenured have the ability to advocate for cultural equality in their institutions and serve as mentors for students. Minority faculty whose tenured process is hindered by inequality may also be unable to become a proper mentor for minority students. The purpose of this paper is to identify why faculty diversity will lead to increased student success and comfort, minority mentors, minority research, and equity advocacy, and representation from all minority groups.
Cutting across the fields of psychology, management, education, counseling, social work, and sociology, The Blackwell Handbook of Mentoring reveals an innovative, multi-disciplinary approach to the practice and theory of mentoring. Provides a complete, multi-disciplinary look at the practice and theory of mentoring and demonstrates its advantages. Brings together, for the first time, expert researchers from the three primary areas of mentoring: workplace, academy, and community. Leading scholars provide critical analysis on important literature concerning theoretical approaches and methodological issues in the field. Final section presents an integrated perspective on mentoring relationships and projects a future agenda for the field
In the past decade, college and university officials have tried to formalize avenues that provide undergraduate students with opportunities to conduct research, either in direct collaboration with a faculty member or as independent research under the supervision of a faculty member. Administrators and faculty have worked to institutionalize these programs because they recognize the intrinsic benefits of these faculty student collaborations. Since most faculty balance a wide range of demands, we wanted to understand how faculty members view these partnerships in the larger context of their work. In 2008, as the Undergraduate Research Conference at our midsize public New England University entered its ninth year, the evaluation committee administered a survey to examine faculty members' attitudes toward undergraduate research endeavors. Our results show that faculty felt overwhelmingly positive about their role as mentors. Full professors indicate more satisfaction in this role than associate and assistant professors.
This study examined the perceptions of 155 science and engineering faculty at a mid-size university with a very extensive undergraduate research program. The faculty thought the undergraduate research experience provided important educational benefits to the students, in good agreement with results from a recent alumni survey. The faculty who supervised undergraduates for a longer period of time and who modified their research program to accommodate undergraduates perceived a greater enhancement of important cognitive and personal skills. Undergraduate research was also believed to provide important mentoring and teaching experience for graduate students who worked with undergraduate research assistants.
More than three decades of mentoring research has yet to converge on a unifying definition of mentoring; this is unsurprising given the diversity of relationships classified as mentoring. This article advances beyond a definition toward a common framework for specifying mentoring models. Sixteen design elements were identified from the literature and tested through specification of two different mentoring models from higher education contexts. This framework provides researchers and practitioners with a detailed yet concise method of communicating exactly what they mean when using the word mentoring; it may also act as a useful set of prompts for educators designing new mentoring interventions.
Given the importance of mentoring in the academic context, this study proposed five objectives. Analyses of surveys from 145 students across 12 universities and diverse disciplines, revealed first of all, a demographic profile of the typical graduate student protégé and faculty mentor. Second, ten diverse communication strategies emerged that demonstrate how students initiate a mentoring relationship. Third, protégé evaluations of their initiation attempts revealed their efforts to be somewhat ineffective and unduly difficult. Fourth, students reported their mentors to provide primarily psychosocial, rather than career support. And fifth, proteges characterized their mentoring relationships as extremely positive and satisfying. Results throughout are, for the most part, independent of both protégé and mentor demographics (including ethnicity).
This study assessed the performance of a federal program designed to serve first-generation, low-income (FGLI) college students—the Ronald E. McNair Program. Using data from a midwestern liberal arts university we found that FGLI program participants are far more likely to be retained to the university and successful in terms of timely graduation and placement into graduate school than FGLI non-participants, even when controlling for academic ability and ambition.
:Multi-year assessment of self-reported benefits, outcomes, learning goals, and awards for diverse, liberal arts college undergraduate researchers found consistent benefits but discipline- and ethnicity-dependent outcomes. The role of the mentor-protégé relationship and the research projects' initiation both show disciplinary and ethnic group dependence. Research participation is associated with student achievement.
On a survey of 986 alumni from a research-extensive university, respondents with undergraduate
research experience, when compared to those with no research experience,
reported greater enhancement of important cognitive and personal skills as well as
higher satisfaction with their undergraduate education. They were also more likely to
pursue graduate degrees.
Numerous reports and initiatives are focused on the need to prepare a diverse workforce for the 21st Century. Organizations such as the National Academies, the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) are calling for collective action at departmental, institutional, and national levels. Responding to that challenge, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and its members have undertaken a variety of initiatives to extend research opportunities to undergraduate students who have not traditionally participated. These activities are part of continuous and collective efforts to help students, faculty, institutions, and the research community tap into the benefits of a vibrant and inclusive undergraduate research program. Keywords (Audience): Upper-Division Undergraduate
This chapter examines the literature on minority faculty and the issues with which they contend from entry through tenure and promotion and into the post-tenure years.
In this ethnographic study of summer undergraduate research (UR) experiences at four liberal arts colleges, where faculty and students work collaboratively on a project of mutual interest in an apprenticeship of authentic science research work, analysis of the accounts of faculty and student participants yields comparative insights into the structural elements of this form of UR program and its benefits for students. Comparison of the perspectives of faculty and their students revealed considerable agreement on the nature, range, and extent of students' UR gains. Specific student gains relating to the process of “becoming a scientist” were described and illustrated by both groups. Faculty framed these gains as part of professional socialization into the sciences. In contrast, students emphasized their personal and intellectual development, with little awareness of their socialization into professional practice. Viewing study findings through the lens of social constructivist learning theories demonstrates that the characteristics of these UR programs, how faculty practice UR in these colleges, and students' outcomes—including cognitive and personal growth and the development of a professional identity—strongly exemplify many facets of these theories, particularly, student-centered and situated learning as part of cognitive apprenticeship in a community of practice. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed91:36–74, 2007
In response to the mounting national support provided to mentoring programs and initiatives in higher education, the present
article updates a review article written by Jacobi (Rev Educ Res 61(4):505–532, 1991). The article revisits the mentoring literature in an attempt to re-frame and update the definition and characteristics of
mentoring provided by Jacobi. It also synthesizes and critically analyzes empirical literature specific to mentoring college
students published between 1990 and 2007. Finally, the article presents broad theoretical perspectives of mentoring from the
business, psychology and education literature in preface to a proposed theoretical framework specific to mentoring college
students. The article concludes with specific recommendations to advance the mentoring literature.
A review of various models of the relationship between research and teaching in universities is presented, and the evidence necessary to assess each model is outlined. A meta-analysis of 58 studies demonstrates that the relationship is zero. Suggestions for future directions are provided, and it is argued that a major goal could be to adopt strategies that enhance the relationship between research and teaching.
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