Increasing STEM success: a near-peer mentoring program in the physical sciences

Abstract

Background: Mentoring supports professional success in a myriad of fields; in the physical sciences, mentoring increases the retention of diverse groups of students. While physics education has made progress in classifying the availability and structural components related to mentoring programs, little is known about the qualitative nature of mentoring relationships. This article draws from frameworks in science identity and belongs to analyze the nature of relationships in the mentoring program offered by the Sundial Project at Arizona State University, which aims to help new students with diverse backgrounds succeed in physics and related majors. To provide insight into mentoring relationships, we analyze over 150 reports submitted by mentors and mentees in a near-peer mentoring program. Results: Mentoring groups enjoyed positive rapport and often remarked upon becoming friends. As such, mentoring relationships provided mentees with both psychosocial and academic support. Mentoring supported students to deal with a wide variety of topics, ranging from academic to personal, according to the needs of individual mentees. Moreover, outcomes of students in the mentoring program were favorable; the mean GPA of participating mentees was 3.49 for their first college semester. Conclusions: Mentors acted both as guides who shared information and as caring friends who providing psychosocial support, including normalizing struggle. These connections supported students to develop a sense of belonging and positive science identities.

Not-so-critical friends: Graduate student instructors and peer feedback

“…Beyond instructor support, the findings of this paper can also speak to other learning arrangements in which individuals are supporting their peers, like peer tutoring (Colvin, 2015) or near-peer mentoring (e.g., Crisp & Cruz, 2009;Zaniewski & Reinholz, 2016). In such situations, the benefits of providing feedback to one's peers still apply, and at the same time, there are potential pitfalls related to providing critical feedback.…”

Peer mentoring for undergraduates in a research-focused diversity initiative

“…Multiple domains of support can be provided through formal mentoring relationships (Nora & Crisp, 2007). Near-peer mentors can make several distinctive contributions by serving as role models, connecting students to campus life, and sharing the lessons they have learned traveling the same pathway (Hill & Reddy, 2007; Wallace, Abel & Ropers-Huilman, 2000; Ward, Thomas & Disch, 2012; Zaniewski & Reinholz, 2016). For this reason, the BUILD EXITO project intentionally incorporates peer mentoring into its multiple-mentor program model.…”

“…EXITO peer mentors are advanced undergraduate students, typically seniors, who provide personal support and serve as guides to student life and academic success (e.g., Zaniewski & Reinholz, 2016). Peer mentors facilitate social integration by helping EXITO scholars connect to campus cultural activities, groups, and programs as well as navigate university services such as housing, financial aid, and recreation.…”

“…Taking a holistic approach in providing support, peer mentors can promote mentee growth in multiple domains, including academic skills, career decision-making, connectedness, maturity, health and well-being, and aspirations (Ward, Thomas & Disch, 2012). Concretely, peer mentors have been shown to help mentees with coursework, organization and time management, campus resources, social issues, stress, and finding employment (Zaniewski & Reinholz, 2016). …”

“…Ten institutions meeting these criteria have been awarded BUILD funding to develop and implement sustainable strategies to foster student engagement and persistence in the biomedical and behavior sciences. An expectation of NIH is that the funded programs employ approaches shown to influence students in pursuing science career trajectories, such as incorporating research inquiry into coursework (Bangera & Brownell, 2014; Weaver, Russell & Wink, 2008), providing meaningful undergraduate research experiences (Hunter, Laursen & Seymour, 2007; Lopatto, 2007; Russell, Hancock, & McCullough, 2007) and supporting students through quality mentoring (Wilson et al, 2012; Zaniewski & Reinholz, 2016). Thus, BUILD faculty development efforts generally aim to support pedagogical innovation to bring lab and field work into courses, increase opportunities for faculty to engage in and publish biomedical research, and provide coaching on the effective mentoring of undergraduate students.…”