Predictors of close faculty−student relationships and mentorship in higher education: findings from the Gallup−Purdue Index

Abstract

College students’ supportive relationships with mentors—professors, advisors, and other caring adults to whom students turn as they develop their interests and career paths—are critical to their development and academic success. The current study sought to explore factors that promote or impede the formation of positive mentor–student relationships during college using a large, nationally representative sample of 5,684 college graduates from the Gallup–Purdue Index. Linear regression models revealed that first‐generation college students, as well as students attending larger institutions, rated faculty and other college staff as less caring and supportive, and were less able to identify a supportive mentoring relationship during college. Greater engagement at college, including participation in faculty research, academic internships, long‐term projects, and extracurricular clubs or activities, was associated with stronger perceptions of faculty support and mentorship while in college. Interestingly, demographic characteristics moderated the effects of some extracurricular activities on students’ experiences. For example, participants with more student loans showed a stronger positive association between participation in long‐term academic projects and perceptions of faculty support, relative to students with few loans. These findings have important implications for policies designed to foster sustained and meaningful faculty–student relationships for all students, including those traditionally marginalized on college campuses.

Historically underrepresented college students and institutional natural mentors: An ecological analysis of the development of these relationships at predominantly White institutions

“…For example, an institutional natural mentor could advocate for a student who is struggling academically or connect a student with other faculty, helping the student increase their network. However, historically underrepresented college students are less likely to form these institutional mentoring relationships because of systemic barriers in college (Hagler, 2018; Raposa et al, 2020). For example, a national study of middle‐ and high‐school students found that those who had fewer parental resources (e.g., low‐income, lower parental education attainment, parental involvement at school) were less likely to report a school‐based natural mentor compared to those with more parental resources, while controlling for other demographic characteristics, hours worked weekly, and extracurricular activities (Erickson et al, 2009).…”

Learning to be open: instructor growth through open pedagogy

“…Often provided at an institutional level (Raposa et al, 2021) or through established formal or informal (Hernandez et al, 2017;Law et al, 2020), mentorship is valuable to student success. Law et al's (2020) review breaks down the various mentorship approaches, including psychosocial, formal, and theoretical.…”

Key issues in professionalizing mentoring practices

“…The same mentoring program can achieve markedly different outcomes depending on the age and cultural and demographic background of the participants. 11,61 We know, for example, that mentees' decisions to study a STEM field were more strongly influenced by mentoring experiences when they were not the children of parents working in a STEM field. 62 The areas and domains in which programs are situated also vary considerably and influence how effective chosen approaches to mentoring will turn out to be.…”

“…Idiographic aspects include, for example, the target groups, the mentors and mentees who are participating in a given program, and the context in which a given program is being implemented. The same mentoring program can achieve markedly different outcomes depending on the age and cultural and demographic background of the participants 11,61 . We know, for example, that mentees’ decisions to study a STEM field were more strongly influenced by mentoring experiences when they were not the children of parents working in a STEM field 62…”