Mentorship: An Assessment of Faculty Scholarly Production, Mode of Doctoral Work, and Mentorship

ABSTRACT

Students working toward a doctoral degree have traditionally been required to maintain a residency requirement and receive mentorship from an advisor. Over time, technological advancements have led to more students receiving mentorship through remote means such as e-mail and other electronic forms of communication. The role mentorship plays in developing doctoral students can be assumed to be important; however, little research examines what role mentorship might have on the long-term success of the student’s scholarly productivity later in his or her academic career. This study used a quantitative approach through an online survey to find whether faculty productivity was influenced by different mentorship factors. This study found that graduate students who are engaged with their mentor on multiple projects during their doctoral degrees are more likely to be productive faculty members and graduate students who communicate with their mentor more often were more likely to be productive scholars. This study also found that higher scholarly productivity was found with graduates who obtained a face-to-face terminal degree versus graduates who obtained a blended or fully online degree. The authors recommend that graduate student mentors should find ways to involve graduate students in meaningful and purposeful projects that have clear connections to facets of research in online formats. Findings are unique by examining faculty perceptions of mentorship during graduate training measured against current faculty productivity adding value to the research community by noting areas where graduate student mentors might be most likely to influence the long-term success of their advisees.