Faculty Mentoring Undergraduates: The Nature, Development, and Benefits of Mentoring Relationships

Abstract

Educational research shows that close student-faculty interaction is a key factor in college student learning and success. Most literature on undergraduate mentoring, however, focuses on planned programs of mentoring for targeted groups of students by non-faculty professionals or student peers. Based on the research literature and student and faculty testimony from a residential liberal arts college, this article shows that unplanned "natural" mentoring can be crucial to student learning and development and illustrates some best practices. It advances understanding of faculty mentoring by differentiating it from teaching, characterizing several functional types of mentoring, and identifying the phases through which a mentoring relationship develops. Arguing that benefits to students, faculty, and institutions outweigh the risks and costs of mentoring, it is written for faculty who want to be better mentors and provides evidence that administrators should value and reward mentoring.

Quality over quantity?: Mentoring relationships and purpose development among college students

“…Higher education institutions should both encourage and provide students with opportunities to develop relationships with mentors. In our study, we were unable to determine whether the mentoring relationships reported by students were informal (i.e., naturally occurring) or were formal (an arranged mentor–mentee relationship; Crisp & Cruz, ; McKinsey, ). Unpacking how the quality of the mentoring relationship and subsequent purpose formation varies as a function of arranged and “naturally occurring” mentoring relationships would add to the literature and provide important insight to institutions of higher learning, as “natural” mentoring by professors has been shown to be especially beneficial (McKinsey, ).…”

“…Relationships play an important role in the formation of purpose, and mentors, in particular, can help young people identify and pursue purpose in life (Lambert et al, ; Liang et al, ). Existing research on mentoring suggests that both quantity and quality of mentoring may be linked with positive benefits for college students (Crisp & Cruz, ; Lambert et al, ; McKinsey, ). The present study examined the relative impact of quality and quantity of mentoring on purpose formation among college students.…”

“…First‐generation college students were also less likely to be mentored by a professor compared to their counterparts who are not first in their family to go to college (Strada‐Gallup, ). Given the benefits of mentoring relationships for college students (e.g., purpose development), colleges and universities should consider the barriers students of different backgrounds face in forming mentoring relationships and support and reward both faculty and staff for the intensive mentoring support they provide to students (McKinsey, ). More research is also needed to examine the relational aspects of mentoring relationships formed between students and different types of mentors that confer benefits to students.…”

“…During this developmental stage in which youth are beginning to seek autonomy in parental relationships, adolescents and emerging adults turn to mentor relationships for direction and validation (Keller & Pryce, ; Liang, Brogan, Spencer, & Corral, ). Different types of individuals can serve as mentors during the college years, such as staff, peers, graduate students, faculty, or other external sources of support, although much research has focused on faculty and staff (Crisp & Cruz, ; Crisp, Baker, Griffin, Lunsford, & Pifer, ; McKinsey, ). Research among college students has demonstrated numerous academic benefits of mentoring, such as retention and academic achievement (Crisp & Cruz, ).…”

Unequally Adrift: How Social Class and College Context Shape Students’ Mentorship Experiences

“…Working with faculty on research is a prime example of a co‐curricular experience, which scholars agree is among the most impactful mentoring practices (Crisp and Cruz 2009). Common co‐curriculars include research and teaching assistantships, independent study, participation in professional conferences, co‐authoring articles for publication, and membership in faculty‐sponsored organizations (McKinsey 2016). Like extracurriculars, co‐curriculars are finite commodities and subject to opportunity‐hoarding.…”