A Developmental Model of Research Mentoring

abstract

We studied mentoring relationships between undergraduate and graduate students in a summer undergraduate research program, over three years. Using a grounded theory approach, we created a model of research mentoring that describes how the roles of the mentor and the student can change. Whereas previous models of research mentoring ignored student roles and treated mentor roles as static, our model focuses on the development of the mentoring relationship over time. Our model explains how conflicts can occur if the mentor role does not match the maturity level of the student.

Keywords:

• advising
• mentoring
• model of mentoring
• undergraduate research

Acknowledgments

We thank the graduate student mentors for participating in this study. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant CNS-0851957. The views, opinions, and conclusions expressed here are not necessarily those of the University of Illinois or the National Science Foundation.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant CNS-0851957. The views, opinions, and conclusions expressed here are not necessarily those of the University of Illinois or the National Science Foundation.