Dropping out of an online mentoring program for girls in STEM: A longitudinal study on the dynamically changing risk for premature match closure

Abstract

Premature closure of mentoring relationships decreases positive effects of mentoring or can even lead to negative effects for mentees. Past studies retrospectively investigated mechanisms of premature match closure. However, a deeper understanding of the dynamics that lead to premature match closure is still missing. In our study, we longitudinally examined the preprogram characteristics, program adherence, as well as program communication and networking behavior of girls (N = 901, M = 13.80 years) who took part in a 1‐year online mentoring program in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), comparing girls who dropped out of the program prematurely (N = 598) with girls who were considered as non‐dropouts (N = 303). We used survival analysis methods to simultaneously analyze time‐independent characteristics and time‐dependent dynamics of mentees' communication and networking behavior. Besides mentees' interest in STEM and compliance with program specifications, a frequent and steady communication with their mentors decreased the risk for premature match closure, especially, if it focused on STEM. Mentors' mentoring experience, mentees' program‐wide networking and their networking with other mentees reduced the risk for premature match closure. Regarding the STEM focus of networking, we found competing influences, which need to be further explored in future research.

A systematic review of the factors affecting girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects

“…• Promote the policy to improve STEM career interest. [6,10,11,30,54,109,118,159,169,177] APPENDIX A See Table A1.…”

Unlocking the transformative power of mentoring for youth development in communities, schools, and talent domains

“…Furthermore, as mentoring is perceived as the vehicle of change for targeted youth outcomes, accompanying research seeking to understand the promotive and hindering factors of mentoring relationships at the individual level, contextual level, and program level is imperative. Some research focuses on the characteristics of mentors and mentees (Hagler, 2023;Hagler & Poon, 2023), and other studies aim to uncover essential program-level practices (Uebler et al, 2023). To this end, both quantitative and qualitative research methods have been utilized.…”

“…To this end, both quantitative and qualitative research methods have been utilized. For example, Uebler et al (2023) investigated the dynamic processes of mentoring with the help of survival analyses and showed that changing patterns (e.g., a sudden change of frequency and focus shift from program content) of mentees' communication to mentors from 1 month to another predicted premature match closure. Parnes et al (2023) employed a design-based mediation analysis to examine caregivers' role in at-risk youths' mentoring relationships and found that the involvement of caregivers was associated with mentoring quality and match length.…”