Mentoring Reflected through the Eyes of Ph.D. Students: Motivations and the Features of Mentoring

Abstract

This article presents the results of a grounded theory study of mentoring experiences of domestic Ph.D. students in programs recognized by the National Research Council (2010) as being among the top Ph.D. programs at the public comprehensive doctoral-granting land grant research university where the research was conducted. A typology of Ph.D. student motivations for pursuing higher education that is connected in patterned ways to those features of mentoring students emphasized as important is described. The four ideal types that emerged from the data are: academic, careerist, creative, and credentialist. The research provides a view of what is important for differently motivated Ph.D. students in mentoring, from their perspectives, and concludes that one important way to support students in developing as engaged mentees is to provide early career professional development that fosters self-reflection designed to empower them to negotiate mentoring relationships that support their progressive development.

Friendships and Student Success in College

“…Instead, most White students drew on color-blind ideology, stating that they did not notice race in their friendships (McCabe, 2011). White students also frequently commented on how diverse the campus was, whereas students of color frequently noted a lack of diversity at the PWIs they attended (Grigsby, 2009;McCabe, 2016). White students typically saw the campus as a friendly place where it was easy to make friendships because "everyone was in the same boat," as one student put it (McCabe, 2016, p. 30).…”