Exploring Frequency of Mentorship Using Multisite Common Data from National Research Mentoring Network Studies

• In Event: Career Development in the Professions: Mentorship, Training, and Transformative Learning

Abstract

Mentorship is widely recognized as a key factor in fostering persistence and success along educational and career pathways. Despite its significance, frequency of mentoring remains an understudied dimension of mentorship, largely due to the scarcity of large datasets that allow meaningful comparisons across groups. We investigated frequency of mentorship across a large, diverse sample of mentors and mentees in a multi-study dataset from the National Research Mentoring Network. Using advanced statistical methods, we found time spent on mentoring activities varies widely and is strongly influenced by participants’ demographics, mentoring role, career stage, and institutional contexts. These findings highlight the complex factors influencing mentorship and emphasize the importance of developing tailored strategies to support mentoring relationships across diverse research contexts.

Authors

• So Hee Hyun, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Abhijnya Menakur, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Christine Pfund, University of Wisconsin - Madison