Measurement of Negative Mentoring in Undergraduate Research

众所周知，本科研究经历有助于促进学生的个人和专业成长。已有研究表明，积极的师徒经历对大学生科研人员有正向影响。然而，负面师徒经历的普遍性和影响尚未得到系统的调查。这样的经历预计会对本科研究人员产生不利影响。本项目旨在开发、测试和使用新的调查工具来衡量负面指导对生命科学本科生研究人员的发生率和影响。对结果的分析将提供关于负面辅导频率的信息，它对本科生研究人员的影响，以及可能采取的措施来减少或防止它。该项目还将提供负面指导对来自历史上代表性不足或服务不足的背景的大学生的影响的见解。本项目旨在实现三个主要目标：定义大学生科研负向师徒关系的构建；生成大学生科研负向师徒关系的有效可靠测度；对负向师徒关系的影响进行初步调查。根据开发新心理测量的既定指导方针，该项目将首先采访一组经历过负面指导的本科生研究人员。分析他们的反应将定义一个负师徒在本科生研究中的结构。全国范围内的一大批本科生将根据这一结构进行问卷调查。这项调查的结果将提供对消极指导的影响的初步见解，并有助于告知调查工具的改进。对全国范围内的本科生科研人员实施改进的调查工具，将增加对负面指导对本科生科研成果影响的理解。这个项目有潜力产生见解和工具，可以帮助提高本科生研究指导的质量。该项目还将测试旨在减少或防止消极指导及其影响的干预措施。这些结果有助于改善本科生的研究经历，从而实现他们培养STEM人才和扩大STEM参与的潜力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Undergraduate research experiences are known to foster students' personal and professional growth. Prior studies have demonstrated that positive mentoring experiences have positive effects on undergraduate researchers. However, the prevalence and impact of negative mentoring experiences have not been systematically investigated. Such experiences would be expected to have detrimental impacts on the undergraduate researchers. This project aims to develop, test, and use new survey instruments to measure the incidence and impact of negative mentoring on undergraduate researchers in the life sciences. Analysis of the results will provide information about the frequency of negative mentoring, its effects on undergraduate student researchers, and possible actions to reduce or prevent it. This project will also provide insights on the effect of negative mentoring on undergraduates from backgrounds that are historically under-represented or under-served. This project aims to accomplish three major goals: define a construct of negative mentoring in undergraduate research, produce a valid and reliable measure of negative mentoring in undergraduate research, and conduct a preliminary investigation of the impacts of negative mentoring. Following established guidelines for developing new psychological measures, the project will begin by interviewing a diverse group of undergraduate student researchers who have experienced negative mentoring. Analysis of their responses will define a construct of negative mentoring in undergraduate research. A large pool of undergraduate students nationwide will take a draft survey based on this construct. Results of this survey will provide preliminary insight into the effects of negative mentoring and helping to inform refinements of the survey instruments. Administering the refined survey instrument to undergraduate student researchers nationwide will increase understanding of the impact of negative mentoring on undergraduate research outcomes. This project has the potential to yield insights and produce tools that could help improve the quality of undergraduate research mentoring. This project will also test interventions aimed at reducing or preventing negative mentoring and its impacts. These results can contribute to improving undergraduate research experiences so that their potential to build STEM talent and broaden participation in STEM can be realized.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.