Journal article
"Where's My Mentor?!" Characterizing Negative Mentoring Experiences in Undergraduate Life Science Research
CBE life sciences education, v 18(4), 61
01 Dec 2019
PMID: 31755819
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Undergraduate research experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields are championed for promoting students' personal and professional development. Mentorship is an integral part of undergraduate research, as effective mentorship maximizes the benefits undergraduates realize from participating in research. Yet almost no research examines instances in which mentoring is less effective or even problematic, even though prior research on mentoring in workplace settings suggests negative mentoring experiences are common. Here, we report the results of a qualitative study to define and characterize negative mentoring experiences of undergraduate life science researchers. Undergraduate researchers in our study reported seven major ways they experienced negative mentoring: absenteeism, abuse of power, interpersonal mismatch, tack of career support, lack of psychosocial support, misaligned expectations, and unequal treatment. They described some of these experiences as the result of absence of positive mentoring behavior and others as actively harmful behavior, both of which they perceive as detrimental to their psychosocial and career development. Our results are useful to mentors for reflecting on ways their behaviors might be perceived as harmful or unhelpful. These findings can also serve as a foundation for future research aimed at examining the prevalence and impact of negative mentoring experiences in undergraduate research.
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Details
- Title
- "Where's My Mentor?!" Characterizing Negative Mentoring Experiences in Undergraduate Life Science Research
- Creators
- Lisa B. Limeri - University of GeorgiaMuhammad Zaka Asif - The University of Texas at El PasoBenjamin H. T. Bridges - University of GeorgiaDavid Esparza - The University of Texas at El PasoTrevor T. Tuma - University of GeorgiaDaquan Sanders - University of GeorgiaAlexander J. Morrison - University of GeorgiaPallavi Rao - University of GeorgiaJoseph A. Harsh - James Madison UniversityAdam Maltese - Indiana University BloomingtonErin L. Dolan - University of Georgia
- Publication Details
- CBE life sciences education, v 18(4), 61
- Publisher
- American Society for Cell Biology
- Number of pages
- 13
- Grant note
- 1659423 / National Science Foundation (NSF) UGA Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 1659423 / Division Of Undergraduate Education; Direct For Education and Human Resources; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) Georgia Athletic Association Professorship in Innovative Science Education Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000506176200020
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85075468044
- Other Identifier
- 991022174776904721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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Source: SDGs in the Output
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Education, Scientific Disciplines