Social Exchange Theory: Examining Mentoring Relationships and Experiences of Domestic and International STEM Postdocs

• In Event: International and Mentoring Graduate Students

Abstract

Mentoring has become an increasingly popular method for addressing recruitment and retention issues, especially for ethnic/racial minoritized individuals in STEM fields. Although existing research suggests that sustained mentoring excellence is a catalyst for productivity, self-efficacy, and career satisfaction, negative and ineffective mentoring practices between faculty and postdoctoral researchers persist. Using Molm’s (2006) Social Exchange Framework, this qualitative study sought to explore the experiences of STEM postdocs, their relationships with faculty mentors, and how those experiences influenced their decisions to pursue or depart career paths to academia. Interviews with 34 postdocs from nine countries and across 18 STEM departments at a large, research-intensive university in the southeast United States comprised the data set for a thematic analysis of faculty-postdoc mentoring relationships.

Authors

• Tiffany Karalis Noel, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Monica Lynn Miles, Cornell University

• Padmashree Rida, Purdue University