Quality Over Quantity: Supportive Mentor Networks Promote STEM Identity and Well-Being for STEM Undergraduates

• In Event: Empowering Pathways: Racialized Realities of Mentorship, Belonging, and Advising in STEM

Abstract

While research on dyadic faculty-mentored relationships currently saturates the mentoring literature, recent developments suggest the need for a more holistic assessment of a student's mentor network, which may provide deeper insight into the benefits of mentorship for undergraduate STEM students. Utilizing Developmental Mentor Network Theory and social network methods, this study evaluates how the characteristics of mentees, types of support, and structure relate to social integration and academic success for a large sample of White and Hispanic STEM undergraduates. Results from pre-registered structural equation model analyses suggest having a high-quality mentorship network, rather than the absence or presence of one or multiple mentors, is an important predictor of STEM identity and well-being for students.

Authors

• Rachelle M. Pedersen, Texas Tech University

• Paul R. Hernandez, Texas A&M University

• Anna Woodcock, California State University - San Marcos

• P. Wesley Schultz, Claremont Graduate University