My Sister's Keeper: A Qualitative Examination of Mentoring Experiences Among African American Women in Graduate and Professional Schools

Patton, Lori D.

doi:10.1080/00221546.2009.11779030

Cited by 171 publications

(190 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Once we examined relationships between factors in the SEM we found female students more likely than male students to experience the effect of microaggressions on their sense of belonging. This finding is consistent with prior research showing that feelings of isolation, alienation, and lack of support negatively impact women's experiences and success in graduate school (Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Fox, 2001;Litzler, Lange, & Brainard, 2005;Nerad & Stewart, 1991;Patton, 2009;Subramanian & Wyer, 1998;Welde & Laursen, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

O’Meara

Griffin

Kuvaeva

et al. 2017

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: The purpose of our study was to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to graduate student sense of belonging and gain insights into differences in sense of belonging for different groups of students. Background: Sense of belonging, or the feeling that a person is connected to and matters to others in an organization, has been found to influence college student retention and success. Literature on sense of belonging has, however, focused primarily on undergraduate students and little is known about graduate students’ sense of belonging. Methodology: We conducted an exploratory, cross-sectional survey study of graduate students at four public doctoral and comprehensive universities in Maryland, USA. All four institutions were participating in the NSF-funded PROMISE program, which strives to support the retention and academic success of women and underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students. A total of 1,533 graduate students from these four institutions completed the survey. To analyze our data, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test direct and indirect effects of multiple latent variables (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, STEM affiliation, critical mass of women, participation in the PROMISE program, sense of belonging) on each other. Contribution: Research found that sense of belonging influences graduate student retention and success. Thus, gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence graduate student sense of belonging can help improve retention and completion rates, an important issue as national seven-year completion rates have hovered around 44% in the United States. Completion rates have been even lower for women and URM students (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders) compared to White students, making sense of belonging an important topic to study for these populations. Findings: We found that professional relationships matter most to graduate student sense of belonging. Professional relationships influenced graduate student sense of belonging more than reported microaggressions and microaffirmations, though they also played a role. We also found differences based on students’ identity or group membership. Overall, microaffirmations played a bigger role in female graduate student sense of belonging and the eco-system of non-STEM programs seemed to have more facilitators of sense of belonging than the ecosystem of STEM programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that graduate programs think strategically about enhancing sense of belonging in ways appropriate to the distinct culture and nature of graduate education. For example, departments can make efforts to support sense of belonging through creating community-oriented peer networks of students, transparent policies, and access to information about resources and opportunities. Programs such as PROMISE can support the retention and success of women and URM graduate students, but aspects of these programs also need to be incorporated into graduate programs and departments. Impact on Society: Because graduate student sense of belonging has been found to impact stu-dents’ interest in careers in academia, fostering graduate student sense of be-longing could be a tool for improving pathways to the professoriate for groups that are typically underrepresented in academia such as women and racial or ethnic minorities. Increasing the number of women and URM faculty could, in turn, positively impact the support available to future URM students, which could positively influence future URM students’ sense of belonging. Future Research: Sense of belonging is an important area for future graduate education research and should be studied through survey research with a larger sample of U.S. students than the current study. Sense of belonging is relevant to graduate education worldwide. Future studies might explore graduate student sense of belonging in different national contexts and the role culture plays in shaping it. Moreover, changes in graduate student sense of belonging over the course of their program should be assessed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

O’Meara

Griffin

Kuvaeva

et al. 2017

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a result, reviewing mentoring literature for women and marginalized ethnic groups is a necessity when attempting to understand the impact mentoring may potentially have in relation to STEM. Literature has explored responsive mentoring programs to the needs of this population, recognizing the need for alternative approaches to mentoring 5,19,27,30,35,44 , and applying and assessing a variety of methods and theories to execute alternative frameworks for mentoring 12,20,22,23,24,36,42 .…”

Section: Theoretical Approaches To Mentoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This concern persists when evaluating marginalized ethnic groups especially Black and Hispanic 29 , and women 36,39 in the College of Engineering 10,15 . As a result, there are numerous strategies developed to respond to attrition including but not limited to: first year seminar, collaborative or cooperative learning projects, service learning/projects of social importance, hands-on design projects, community service, student-faculty interaction, tutoring, summer bridge programs, mentoring, undergraduate research programs, etc 10,16,45 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bulls-Eye Mentoring: Developing a Program Intervention in the College of Engineering

Wilson¹,

Gaines²,

Cooper³

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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“…In this paper, we examine the personal and professional experiences of one AfricanAmerican STEM PhD mentor in higher education as a first step towards understanding the African-American STEM college experience from the perspective of African-American mentors in higher education 10,11 . Narrative research is not intended to try to generate a theory about the entire population [10][11][12][13] . Rather, this method allows us to examine the storied experiences of someone who can speak to the experiences of STEM African-American undergraduates due to their experiences as a prior undergraduate and a current mentor 7,14 .…”

Section: An Overview Of This Narrative Research Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentoring African-American Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Undergraduates: An African-American STEM Mentor’s Perspective

Mondisa

Brown

Adams

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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Abstract-One approach to understanding and learning about the African-American STEM college student experience is to examine the personal, professional, and mentoring experiences and mentoring relationships of African-American STEM mentors in higher education. In this paper, we examine the personal and professional experiences of an African-American STEM PhD mentor in higher education in an attempt to understand the African-American STEM college experience from the perspective of African-American mentors. As a pilot study of the first author's dissertation research, this paper is not intended to generate theory or present a universalized narrative for all African-American STEM mentors. Rather, this study examines the preliminary findings of a storied experience of someone who can speak to the experience of being an African-American STEM undergraduate and mentor. Emergent themes from the narrative data focus on the potential needs of African-Americans in higher education to see others who look like them in academia and to have mentors who are knowledgeable about social and cultural resources. Future research should examine how mentors implement different methods and strategies to help their African-American protégés and how to help other mentors learn how to be better resources for protégés.

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My Sister's Keeper: A Qualitative Examination of Mentoring Experiences Among African American Women in Graduate and Professional Schools

Cited by 171 publications

References 23 publications

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

Bulls-Eye Mentoring: Developing a Program Intervention in the College of Engineering

Mentoring African-American Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Undergraduates: An African-American STEM Mentor’s Perspective

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