Towards a Conceptual Framework for Mentoring Underrepresented Students in Higher Education

• In Event: Roundtable Group 8
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Equity, access, and diversity in the college student experience

Proposal

Across the globe, a variety of higher education institutions - ranging from open-access community colleges to selective research universities - have struggled to prepare increasingly diverse groups of students for the labor markets of the twenty-first century. As a result, quality mentoring at the undergraduate and graduate levels has become an issue of increased significance, especially as higher education institutions of all types strive to better support students from historically underrepresented populations. Current literature points to the importance of positive mentoring in cultivating a sense of belonging and validation (Crisp et al., 2018; O’Brien et al., 2012; Strayhorn, 2019), promoting high impact practices which foster deep learning (Chester et al., 2013; Palmer et al., 2015), and developing strong communication skills and cultural competencies which are highly desired in the professional workforce (Dolan & Johnson, 2009; Hora et al., 2020). Nevertheless, our understanding of quality mentorship in higher education remains limited by a lack of conversation between different countries’ scholarship, the evolving and multiplex identities of contemporary student populations, and the different types of mentorship which occur at undergraduate and postgraduate levels (Lunsford et al., 2017).

This roundtable presentation is designed to invite conversation about 1) the role of mentoring in different national contexts; 2) the power dynamics between mentor and mentee which either promote or inhibit a quality mentoring relationship; and 3) the differences and similarities in how mentoring is enacted at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This conversation will be grounded in findings from two different case studies briefly discussed by each of this presentation’s authors.

The first case study concerns higher education in Ireland, where many of Ireland’s institutes of technology have merged in recent years to form Technological Universities (TUs) that offer level 10 certifications and/or doctorate degrees. TUs are relatively new, with the earliest forming in 2019 as the Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Tallaght, and Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. Given the importance of level 10 certifications to Ireland’s economic development and goals, and the relatively new nature of the TUs, this case study provides important insights into the mentoring experiences of doctoral students in Ireland’s TUs. The second case study draws on data from U.S. community colleges in the states of Florida, Georgia, and Pennsylvania that have, in recent years, developed mentoring programs to support racially minoritized student populations. Data from both case studies offer interesting findings about the importance of establishing consistent meeting times, developing long-term goals, ensuring sociocultural fit between mentor and mentee, and cultivating flexible modes of asynchronous and synchronous communication to promote timely and personalized mentorship. Data also indicate that open lines of communication are essential to mitigate power dynamics which could curtail lasting and effective mentorship. Interestingly, the professional identity of the mentor was found to be less important than the authenticity and sincerity of the mentor, as peer mentorship was shown in both studies to be as impactful as “expert” mentorship. This presentation therefore serves as a beginning to the conceptual development of these themes.

Authors

• Michael Lanford, University of North Georgia

• Katlynn Fisher, University of North Georgia

• Brooklyn Cole Herrera, Dalton State College