Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of A Group Mentoring Program On Psychosocial Development And Sense Of Belonging In Undergraduate Students, Natasha L. Varnick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Mentoring has been studied in corporate and academic environments as a means of providing career and psychosocial support for young colleagues or students. Initially, mentoring was viewed as a single dyadic relationship between a mentor and a mentee. However, in recent years, it has been better understood in terms of mentoring constellations or group mentoring, as multiple mentors may best aid the development of individuals. While much mentoring research has examined professional development, this study focused on the psychosocial development that mentoring can provide. The relationship between mentoring and sense of belonging was also examined. It was hypothesized that students …

Faculty Mentors' Influence On Latino/A/X Stem Undergraduates' Stem Identity Development, Sandy Cerda-Lezama

Dissertations and Theses

Despite Latino/a/x college student attendance rising substantially over the past decades, their graduation rates do not match the increased admission rates. In addition, Latino/a/x students are considerably under-represented in STEM. However, research suggests that when these students are encouraged by social partners to have meaningful participation and given resources such as mentoring, this eases the barriers they experience. The current study utilized interviews with 11 Latino/a/x STEM undergraduates (aged 18-29) to understand how faculty mentors influence their STEM identity development. Students shared answers about how faculty promoted and inhibited their STEM identity development through conversations about their sense of competence, …

Campus Racial Climate And Mentoring: Impact On Academic And School Experience Outcomes, Safa Asad

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The current negative sociopolitical climate has impacted students on college campuses throughout the nation. Literature suggests campus racial climate is a risk factor for negative student outcomes. Using resiliency theory and the protective resilience model, this study examines the effects of campus racial climate and mentoring on school experiences and academic outcomes in 247 college freshmen. This study utilizes linear regression to examine the relationship between racial climate perception and mentoring on student outcomes (e.g., sense of belonging, school engagement, and grade point average at graduation) and uses moderated linear regression to determine if the presence of a …

Mothers Of Children With Disabilities: Perceptions Of Online Peer Mentoring Support, April S. Felder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been a trend of increased diagnoses of childhood disabilities in the United States. Mothers who care for a child diagnosed with disabilities typically experience increased parental obligations and maternal mental health deficits that often go undiagnosed or untreated, resulting in adverse events. Researchers found that peer mentoring is an effective, nonclinical resource for addressing these mothers’ intervention needs but have not established alternative ways to increase access and delivery. The purpose of this generic, qualitative study was to explore how mothers of children with disabilities perceive online peer mentoring as an intervention resource for stress and coping. Lazarus’s …

The Role Of Mentoring In The Lives Of Underrepresented Youth, Nohely Camacho Morales

Social Justice | Senior Theses

Underrepresented youth (Latino, Black, Pacific Islander, and Native American) face challenges in school enrollment/completion and often lack feelings of belonging in educational and social institutions. One specific group of underrepresented youth who face unique struggles is unaccompanied youth. Mentoring, a non-parental relationship between a young person and someone who supports and guides youth, has been found to result in better well-being and health in adolescents and potentially lead to higher self-worth and better academic performance. In order to fill a gap in the literature examining the effects of mentoring on underrepresented youth and specifically unaccompanied youth, I conducted a mixed-methods …

Lessons Learned From Conducting Health Behavior Research In An Under-Resourced, Urban Community, Keri F. Kirk, Brittany Schuler, Daphne C. Hernandez

Health Behavior Research

Existing literature discusses challenges in conducting community-engaged health behavior interventions. However, discussions associated with the barriers to executing community-engaged health behavior research with vulnerable populations are limited in the literature. This current issue provides lessons learned for the purpose of improving community-engaged research within communities that are under-resourced. The lessons learned stem from challenges with the recruitment and enrollment procedures and study design with a previous qualitative community-engaged research project. The research recommendations proposed are geared toward students preparing to engage in dissertation research and early-stage investigators who are interested in conducting research in under-resourced communities.

Physical Activity, Sitting Time, And Feelings Of Energy And Fatigue During The Early Stages Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Does Grit Make A Difference?, Andreas Stamatis, Jessica Adams, Joel Martin, Matthew L. Smith, Italia Milani, Shane V. Caswell, Nelson Cortes, Ali Boolani

Health Behavior Research

Grit has been associated with feelings of energy when measured as the opposite end of fatigue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, grit has been linked to positive health-related behaviors, which are known to influence feelings of energy and fatigue. The objective of this study was to identify the association between grit, time spent sitting, physical activity (PA), and feelings of mental and physical energy (ME, PE) and fatigue (MF, PF) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Participants (n = 859) completed surveys once. Using a series of multivariate regression models, we assessed the association …

An Exploratory Study Of Early Childhood Coaches’ Practices And Professional Learning Needs, Rachel E. Schachter, Holly Hatton-Bowers, Hayley Jackson, Lisa Knoche

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Coaching is increasingly being used as a mechanism to improve the quality of early childhood education. Yet, for coaching outside of researcher-controlled interventions, limited information details coaches’ reports of their practices’ professional learning needs. We addressed this gap via an exploratory study utilizing online questionnaires of 91 coaches working with educators in a Midwestern US state across 12 coaching initiatives. Most participants had less than 5 years of experience working as an early childhood coach. Almost a third coached for multiple initiatives. Coaching occurred via multiple formats and often addressed behavior management and social emotional development regardless of the coaching …

Collaborating With Big Brothers Big Sisters And Parents To Develop Caregiver-Initiated Mentoring, Meredith J. Scafe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that youth enrolled in formal mentoring programs often wait months before being matched with a mentor. This paper describes the development and pilot test of Caregiver-Initiated Mentoring (CG-IM), a program originally designed to equip caregivers to assist Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) mentoring program staff in identifying and recruiting mentors from their social network. Using a mixed-methods design, the initial efficacy of the CG-IM program was evaluated via a small pilot test. I broadly explored caregivers’ experiences participating in the CG-IM program and a BBBS staff member’s experience implementing it. Caregivers completed a post-survey that included quantitative measures …

The Relationship Between Racial Microaggressions, Mental Health, And Academic Self- Efficacy In Black College Students : Is A Supportive Mentor Protective?, Devanté J. Cunningham

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Racial microaggressions are daily, often subtle, verbal, environmental, and behavioral slights and insults targeted at a person or their race. Racial microaggressions can have deleterious effects on the mental health and academic outcomes of Black college students. As research on this relationship increases, it is essential to assess factors that may moderate, or lessen, the impact of racial microaggressions. There is evidence that mentoring, a form of social support, may attune the adverse effects of racial microaggressions on mental health and academic outcomes. The current study explored the relationship between racial microaggressions and mental health and academic outcomes (social anxiety, …

Assessing Need And Acceptability Of A Youth Mentoring Intervention For Adolescents With Autism By Adults With Autism, Kai Y. Gunty, Lindsey Weiler, Angela Keyzers, Rebekah Hudock

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Background: Adult mentors can positively influence development, yet youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have too little access to adult mentors who can provide role modeling, guidance, and support. Furthermore, neurotypical adult mentors (i.e., adult mentors without ASD) may not understand the day-to-day realities that youth with ASD face and the social world they navigate. Therefore, it is possible that adults with ASD may be particularly well-suited as mentors for youth with ASD.

Method: Six semi-structured focus groups of four to seven people each explored the need for a mentoring program to bridge the gap between the supports youth with …

Informal And Formal Mentoring Of Sexual And Gender Minority Youth: A Systematic Review, Katie Edwards, Jillian R. Scheer, Victoria Mauer

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Research demonstrates that mentoring relationships can promote positive outcomes for youth across numerous domains, a topic of importance to school social workers. Whereas most mentoring research to date has been conducted with heterosexual cisgender youth, there is a growing body of literature that examines mentoring experiences among sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). The purpose of this article is to conduct a systematic literature review of informal and formal mentoring experiences among SGMY. Results from twelve studies that met inclusion criteria suggested that (1) the majority of SGMY report having a mentor/role model; (2) demographics are generally unrelated to having …

Examining How Individual Approaches To Learning Support Mentorship Relationships And Greater Well-Being For At-Risk College Students, Rebecca Renae Donaldson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

A large body of research suggest positive educational contexts may buffer against negative effects of childhood trauma for some individuals (Bessey, 2017). However, to date, only a small body of research has examined the characteristics of students’ approaches to learning that may interact with mentorship experiences in higher education and support greater well-being for this population (Mak, 2012). Studies suggest mentorship relationships in higher education are critical for the well-being of at-risk students, as they provide greatly needed social support and guidance (Al Makhamreh & Stockley, 2019). Literature also indicates that generative force characteristics of students may support mentorship experiences …

Changing The Face Of Stem: Review Of Literature On The Role Of Mentors In The Success Of Undergraduate Black Women In Stem Education, Danielle D. Dickens, Valeisha Ellis, Naomi M. Hall

Journal of Research Initiatives

The lack of ethnic and gender diversity in STEM undergraduate programs may lead to diversity and equity issues in STEM careers. However, some research suggests that mentoring influences the career trajectory of Black undergraduate women students in STEM. The investigation into these phenomena highlights suggestions for future research on mentoring Black undergraduate women in STEM. More recently, empirical research on mentoring among Black women have gained some momentum. Furthermore, with the increasing diversity and inclusivity demands from #ShutdownSTEM, in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, there is a focus on correcting barriers to access in STEM. Therefore, this conceptual …

Influence Of Ethnic-Racial Similarities And Ethnic-Racial Support On Student Well-Being: The Role Of Natural Mentors, Yesenia Garcia

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

According to Rhodes’ model of youth mentoring, one of the ways through which positive outcomes are achieved is through identity development. This study considered ethnic-racial identity (ERI) in the lives of college students of color and how that identity is promoted through natural mentoring relationships. The focus of this study was on ethnic-racial private regard, a component of ERI. This study examined: (a) the associations among mentor ethnic-racial similarity and support and student ERI and (b) the relationships among mentor ethnic-racial similarity and support and student psychological well-being. The sample included 266 college students of color who completed an online …

To What Extent Are Appropriate Resources Provided To Veterans With Mental Illness To Prevent Contact With The Criminal Justice System?, Riley Christine Doyle

Master’s Theses and Projects

United States military veterans are a special population of men and women that have willingly sacrificed their lives to serve their country. They are perceived to be patriotic, honorable, strong, and disciplined people. Unfortunately, veterans are not exempt from committing criminal acts that land them in the criminal justice system. In fact, veterans are highly susceptible to developing mental illnesses and substance use disorders which can ultimately lead to criminal behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent available resources are provided to veterans to help them prevent contact with the criminal justice system. This study …

Novice Secondary Teachers’ Perceived Efficacy And Projected Responses To Bullying Behaviors, Jennifer L. Greineder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was a quantitative exploration of the relationship between novice secondary teachers’ perceived levels of self-efficacy and their projected responses to specific bullying behaviors. The theoretical foundation was Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. The relationship between novice teachers’ perceived levels of self-efficacy, their reported ability to recognize different types of bullying behaviors, their responses to these bullying behaviors, and importance of a mentoring program were explored in this quantitative study. The sample was a convenience sample consisting of 159 teachers in different school settings in Pennsylvania. Vignettes about different types of bullying behaviors were presented to the participants. Likert scale questions …

Mentoring In The Training Cycle Of Clinical And Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Hélène Farr

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a critical review and analysis of the literature on mentoring in clinical and counseling psychology training programs. It provides background information on the mentoring process and a detailed analysis of current empirical research pertaining to mentoring in the training cycle of clinical and counseling psychology doctoral trainees through predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship to licensure. The goal of this review is to highlight the importance and benefits of mentorship for mentors, protégés, institutions or universities, and for the profession of psychology. There are few studies focused on mentorship during psychology training, therefore recommendations are made for future …

Text Messaging Between School Counselors And Students: An Exploratory Study, Nicholas R. Gilly

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory case study examines the impact of text messaging on mentoring relationships when used as an outreach between school counselors and high school students, where established relationships are lacking. An SMS gateway was used to mediate communication between school counselors (N=2) and students (N=5) over a three-month timeframe. The SMS gateway converted email, sent from counselors, to text messages, which were received on mobile devices of students and allowed students to respond back to counselors. Findings indicate that the use of text messaging may ease scheduling of face-to-face meetings between counselors and students, but evidence does not support any …

Rooting For Everybody Black: Exploring The Need For Mentorship For Black First-Generation Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Layshan Gilliard

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis addresses how mentorship can enhance the experience and success of Black first-generation college students at predominantly white institutions. More specifically, I explore why first-generation Black students need guided support that comes with mentorship, what that support should entail, and how and when it should be delivered to them. I used the methodology of critical action research to analyze the structures of power that affect the education received by these students, while also utilizing my personal experience. I propose a mentoring program that promotes Black excellence. The program, SOUL (Students Overcoming Uniting and Learning), will provide students with the …

Motivations To Control Prejudice Bias Performance Feedback In Developmental Relationships, C. Malik Boykin, Christine R. Smith

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

In developmental relationships, providing accurate assessments of performance is necessary to maximize the developmental benefits for those receiving the feedback. Research suggests that performance assessments for underrepresented minorities are susceptible to biases related to out-group prejudice; however, little is known about the contributions of motivations to control prejudice, particularly in face-to-face settings. Addressing this, we examined the influences of internal and external motivations to control prejudice (IMS and EMS) on the positivity of White mentor’s feedback about their underrepresented minority mentee’s task performance. We analyzed video-recorded interactions between 56 randomly assigned cross-racial dyads, wherein mentees performed a speech task and …

Mentor As Scaffold: A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Feminist-Informed Mentoring In The Undergraduate Setting, Elizabeth Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been little consensus around the definition or meaning of mentoring as a phenomenon. As highlighted first by Jacobi (1991) and more recently by Crisp and Cruz (2009), the relatively small mentoring literature is plagued by a poor understanding of mentoring itself. Additionally, there are few guiding recommendations for the development of formal mentoring programs, particularly those informed by feminist pedagogy and theory, at the undergraduate level. To begin to address these gaps in the mentoring literature, I conducted a mixed-methods study with a convergent parallel design (Creswell & Clark, 2007) and qualitative emphasis. Eight participants completed individual, semi-structured …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Enhanced Mentoring For Delinquency Prevention, Allison Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Youth with certain risk factors (e.g., from a minority group, low-income status, previous contact with the juvenile justice system) are particularly at risk for juvenile delinquency and associated problems (e.g., school failure, mental health problems). In addition, these problems are quite costly to youth, their families, and society as a whole. Mentoring programs have shown modest, but consistent, effects in the prevention and reduction of juvenile delinquency and associated problems. Previous research has identified promising enhancements (i.e., advocacy/teaching roles for mentors, rigorous match processes, comprehensive mentor training, ongoing mentor support) that may increase the effectiveness of mentoring in producing positive …

Dissertation Mentor Communication Style And Behavior As Predictors Of Student Stress And Satisfaction, Julienne Inez King

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many graduate students (60%) do not complete their program of study. It is important for

universities to find ways to increase student completion rate. The general problem is that

online U.S. universities are faced with a high rate of PhD student drop out resulting in an

increased number of students not being able to complete their doctoral studies. The

purpose of this multiple linear regression study was to identify predictor variables of

dissertation student stress and overall dissertation satisfaction. Deci and Ryan's self

determination theory and Lazarus' theory of cognitive appraisal were used to guide this

research to identify how …

A Support Program For College Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Functioning Of Participants Versus Non-Participants And The Role Of Program-Sponsored Mentoring, Ayla Raven Mapes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college. In response, many colleges are now offering these students the extra support of an Autism Support Program (ASP), many of which include a mentoring component. This study is one of only a handful of attempts to examine these programs empirically. Using a small sample of college students who identified as having ASD, I compared participants and non-participants of a university ASP. An online survey was used to assess demographic characteristics and pre-college academic performance, as well as students’ functioning across the following domains: social, adaptive, academic, emotional, and having …

The Role Of Self-Disclosure In Improving Workplace Cross-Race Mentoring Outcomes, Christine R. Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While the racial diversity of the workforce is increasing, minority employees still do not appear to be advancing professionally at the same rates as White employees. There are many explanations for why minority employees do not experience the same rates of advancement as White employees. One key developmental relationship that can aid in increasing the opportunities for minority employees to advance and grow in an organization is the mentoring relationship. However, given the lack of diversity in the upper levels of organizational hierarchies, minorities are more likely to have a White mentor than they are to have a minority mentor. …

Contextual Factors In The Identity Development Of Native American And Latinx Undergraduates In Stem Fields, Angela Marie Enno

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study includes two papers that aimed to provide insights into the experiences of high-achieving Latinx and Native American college students studying science. We wanted to better understand factors that influence these students’ ability to develop a sense of identity that weaves together their hoped-for careers as scientists as well as their cultural identities. We looked at how they feel about working with mentors in science fields who were like them in a variety of ways. We found that many students (especially those with a stronger sense of cultural identity) valued working with mentors who were similar to them in …

Investigating Transformation: An Exploratory Study Of Perceptions And Lived Experiences Of Graduate Teaching Assistants, Christina M. Partin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are becoming increasingly responsible for undergraduate instruction in the landscape of higher education. These experiences may serve as a pipeline for career readiness and success in faculty positions. Yet, the experiences of graduate teaching assistants are largely unexplored. This study describes the perceptons and experiences of a selected sample of GTAs, including their perceptions of available support, and the role of that support in navigating potential disorienting dilemmas.

Existing literature suggests that disorienting dilemmas lead to transformative experiences through an internal process of critical self-reflection, but neglects the possibility of differential outcomes to disorienting dilemmas. Further, …

The Role Of Mentoring And Ethnicity On Career Advancement And Leadership Aspirations: Looking At Hispanic Women, Arlette Osorno

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Hispanic women in leadership are vastly understudied and little is known as to what factors influence their leadership aspirations and ultimately their career advancement. Mentoring has been found to have a positive influence on women’s perceptions of career advancement and the gender of the mentor plays a role (Tharenou, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine how career-related mentoring influences the protegee’s career advancement and how the gender of the mentor may change that relationship. Furthermore, the relationship between psychosocial (emotional) support and the protegee’s leadership aspirations were examined, as well as the role of the mentor’s gender …

Examining Generativity Development Among College Student Leaders Who Mentor, Hannah M. Sunderman

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the influence, if any, of age cohort on generativity among college student leaders who mentor. While previous research has revealed that college student leaders who mentor tend to demonstrate higher levels of generativity than other college student leaders and general college students (Hastings, Griesen, Hoover, Creswell, & Dlugosh, 2015), research as to the development of generativity among college student leaders who mentor has not been determined. Additionally, a need exists for further research on the antecedents of generativity (McAdams, 2001, p. 434). The current study sought to fill these gaps in …