How Undergraduate Students Identify and Utilize Informal Mentors

Abstract

After receiving a broad definition of mentoring, students were asked to indicate whether they had mentors and the types of assistance the mentor provided. In the absence of a formal mentoring program and with a decentralized and loosely structured academic advising program, one half of the undergraduate business majors sampled identified faculty members, administrators, parents, friends, relatives, and members of the business community as mentors. We examined the role and identity of informal mentors from an undergraduate perspective and explored the composition and needs of the unmentored student population as well. Implications for practice are discussed.

Cumulative Subject Index to Volumes 16–30 of the NACADA Journal

“…Student problems (*) (see also Counseling [*]) reluctance to seek help (success avoidance) Gordon, 1997;Oliver, Ricard, Witt, Alvarado, & Hill, 2010 Student services Danis & Wall, 1987, 1988 Student success (success) Meadows & Tharp, 1996;Dawson & Dell, 1997;Robbins, 1998;Brooks-Harris, Mori, & Higa, 1999;Molina & Abelman, 2000;Yudof, 2003;Rehfuss & Quillin, 2005;Gerdes & Crews, 2010;Oliver, Ricard, Witt, Alvarado, & Hill Severy & Slinger, 1996;Severy, Lee, & Polson, 1996;Barrows & Murray, 1997;Mahon & Dannells, 1998;Chizhik, 1999;Smerglia & Bouchet, 1999;Dillon & Fisher, 2000;Glennen, Martin, & Walden, 2000;McBeth, Richardson, Cregler, & Meyer, 2000;McCarthy & Mangione, 2000;Ridinger & Pastore, 2000;Jeschke, Johnson, & Williams, 2001;Lynch & Stucky, 2001;Paul, Manetas, Grady, & Vivona, 2001;Steele & Gordon, 2001;Lynch, 2002aLynch, , 2002bReinarz & Ehrlich, 2002;Waters, 2002;Miller & Woycheck, 2003;Donnelly, 2004;Leonard,...…”

Mentoring Functions Practiced by Undergraduate Faculty in Agriculture

“…Though forms of mentoring have been traditionally associated with higher education, particularly faculty to graduate student mentoring (Merriam, Thomas, & Zeph, 1987;Anderson, et al, 1995), it has been somewhat less prevalent at the undergraduate level. The few undergraduate mentoring studies that have been conducted focused on the protégés' perceptions about their mentor or mentoring relationship (Anderson et al;McCarthy & Mangione, 2000;Van Ast & Field, 2005) and not on the mentors' perceptions.…”

Faculty perceptions of the undergraduate mentoring process in the College of Agriculture at Iowa State University

“…However, educational mentoring studies have primarily researched faculty to faculty mentoring or faculty to graduate student mentoring causing a deficiency in studies conducted at the undergraduate level (Merriam et al, 1987). The few undergraduate mentoring studies that have been done focused on the protégés' perceptions about their mentor or mentoring relationship (Anderson et al;McCarthy & Mangione, 2000;Van Ast & Field, 2005). Jones (1985) and Eastman (1988) surveyed Jones (1985) and Eastman (1988) found similar results in their study.…”

“…Though mentoring has traditionally been associated with higher education, particularly faculty to graduate student mentoring (Merriam, Thomas, & Zeph, 1987;Anderson, Dey, Gray, & Thomas, 1995), it has been somewhat less prevalent at the undergraduate level. The few undergraduate mentoring studies that have been conducted focused on the protégés' perceptions about their mentor or mentoring relationship (Anderson et al;McCarthy & Mangione, 2000;Van Ast & Field, 2005) and not on the mentors' perceptions. In fact, faculty and administrators are often uncertain about how to foster effective mentoring relationships with undergraduates (Stanley & Lincoln, 2005).…”