Theo Walker
Research Mentor(s): Angela Ebreo
Mentor Department: Diversity Research & Policy Program/CSHPE
Authors: Theo Walker, Minso Choi, Angela Ebreo
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 17
Abstract
Existing literature has found that student experiences in undergraduate research are influenced by their mentors. Previous studies have explored formal mentoring frameworks and their individual relationships with various student outcomes, such as academic performance and self-confidence (Aikens et al., 2017; Byars-Winston et al., 2015). This study explores the interplay between mentee perceptions of formal (e.g., faculty mentoring) and informal (e.g., social support) frameworks. The study examines how the dimensions of informal social support are related to formal faculty mentoring functions, and how the dimensions of social support relate to their cumulative grade point average (GPA) and intended major at the beginning of their research involvement. Secondary analyses of data from a large, self-report survey study of 279 undergraduate research program students were conducted to address these questions. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed to assess the relationships between the target variables, and a one-way anova was used to track relationships between intended major and social support mentoring perceptions. Results of the correlational analyses indicate that, in general, social support variables were moderately and negatively correlated with faculty mentoring variables, indicating that as students perceive heightened informal mentoring behaviors, they perceive weaker formal mentoring behaviors. Additional analyses showed that social support is unrelated to GPA and intended major. The results of this study imply that creating a better awareness of the trade-off between formal and informal mentoring among undergraduate research program managers and mentors may help ensure more beneficial and purposeful mentoring relationships for students.
