Connection, Counter-Spaces, and Community in a Mentoring Program for Diverse Undergraduate STEM Majors

• In Event: Relationship Established Through Mentoring Builds Success

Abstract

Some universities working to increase diversity in their undergraduate STEM majors have implemented mentoring programs designed to promote retention of students from minoritized groups. While some studies have found benefits to race and gender matches between mentor and mentee, this is not always possible. This qualitative study investigates the factors that contribute to effective mentoring within and across differences. Findings suggest benefits of structured opportunities for interaction, an emphasis on informal connections, distributed mentoring approaches, opportunities for recognition, and direct discussion of complex ways that identities shape experiences. Overall, this study suggests benefits of mentoring for STEM majors from minoritized backgrounds in order to overcome perceptions of distance and create counterspaces that can contribute to sense of belonging and retention.

Author

• Stacy I. Olitsky, Saint Joseph's University
  Presenting Author