Mentoring Functions Practiced by Undergraduate Faculty in Agriculture

Abstract

The literature has indicated that faculty and administrators are often uncertain about how to foster effective mentoring relationships with undergraduate students. This study analyzed the mentoring functions of faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University regarding the undergraduate mentoring process. Six mentoring functions (informal contact, role modeling, direct assistance, demonstration, assistance with professional development plans, and observation and feedback) were identified in the literature. A previous questionnaire was used to measure the extent to which faculty practiced each mentoring function. Findings indicated faculty were "often" practicing the mentoring functions. Results indicated consistency in the mentoring process practiced by the faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This study has implications related to faculty training and development. Because of the impact mentoring has on the psychosocial and career development of undergraduates, it is imperative that faculty address each of the six functions of mentoring. Disciplines Agricultural Education | Community College Leadership | Curriculum and Instruction Comments

Measuring mentoring in employability-oriented higher education programs: scale development and validation

“…The item pool was consulted to extract items that covered the four features of psychosocial support: trust, empathy, similarity, and availability. The items stemmed from seven different questionnaires (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987 ; Cornelius et al, 2016 ; Crawford et al, 2014 ; Gullan et al, 2016 ; Scandura & Ragins, 1993 ; Tenenbaum et al, 2001 ; Wolfe et al, 2008 ). Eight items remained identical, five were adapted and one was newly developed.…”

An Examination of Mentoring Functions in the Capstone Course

“…Tenebaum et al 17 has proven through a factor analysis that the model can be used to measure mentoring in graduate school 16 . Other studies similar to Wolfe et al 18 have shown how the model can be applied in undergraduate education. In the case of capstone design, we argue, Kram's model is particularly appropriate because the capstone experience operates in the borderland between school and work and faculty often seek to replicate workplace contexts, even as they maintain the relative safety of an academic course.…”