Abstract
ABSTRACTHere we present the development and initial validation of the Mentoring in Undergraduate Research Survey (MURS) as a measure of a range of mentoring experienced by undergraduate science researchers. We drafted items based on qualitative research and refined the items through cognitive interviews and expert sorting. We used national dataset to evaluate the internal structure of the measure and a second national dataset to examine how responses on the MURS related to theoretically-relevant constructs and student characteristics. Our factor analytic results indicate seven lower order forms of mentoring experiences: abusive supervision, accessibility, career and technical support, psychosocial support, interpersonal mismatch, sexual harassment, and unfair treatment. These forms of mentoring mapped onto two higher-order factors: supportive and destructive mentoring experiences. Although most undergraduates reported experiencing supportive mentoring, some reported experiencing absence of supportive as well as destructive experiences. Undergraduates who experienced less supportive and more destructive mentoring also experienced lower scientific integration and a dampening of their beliefs about the value of research. The MURS should be useful for investigating the effects of mentoring experienced by undergraduate researchers and for testing interventions aimed at fostering supportive experiences and reducing or preventing destructive experiences and their impacts.Highlight summaryThis study presents the development and initial validation of the Mentoring in Undergraduate Research Survey, including evidence of its internal structure as well as convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Reference111 articles.
1. AAAS. (2011). Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. National Academies Press: Washington DC. http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/ Accessed on 11/10/2017
2. Race and gender differences in undergraduate research mentoring structures and research outcomes;CBE—Life Sciences Education,2017
3. A social capital perspective on the mentoring of undergraduate life science researchers: An empirical study of undergraduate–postgraduate–faculty triads;CBE—Life Sciences Education,2016
4. Attachments beyond infancy.
5. Relationship Effectiveness for Mentors: Factors Associated with Learning and Quality