Collaborative Research: Effects of Mentoring Relationship Heterogeneity on Student Outcomes among NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program Participants

理解师徒关系对于增加STEM领域的多样性至关重要。德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校和犹他大学的研究人员提议研究导师关系不匹配对美国国家科学基金会本科生研究经历项目（REU）中学生成果的影响。本项目旨在采用一种新颖的方法来研究师徒关系，通过考察多层次的师徒关系以及学生和导师团队的人口统计数据。该项目旨在在夏季研究项目结束时和明年从全国各地参与的学生和导师那里收集数据，以评估与STEM兴趣、持久性和遵循STEM职业道路的意图相关的结果。该项目符合EHR核心研究项目的目标，即解决STEM兴趣、学习和参与方面的挑战。该项目旨在解决三个相互关联的研究问题，包括师徒关系异质性如何影响学生的短期和中期成绩，这些影响是否可以通过导师和徒弟之间的互动动态来调节，以及师徒关系异质性如何影响REU经历后立即和一年后的教育，研究和职业目标。背景下的师徒关系异质性提供了一个概念框架，重点关注学生徒弟如何与多个导师（包括研究生和博士后研究人员）匹配。程序异质性的概念将被用来衡量学生的人口统计学背景和他们的REU项目的人口统计学组成之间的差异。从改进研究指导经验中心（CIMER）收集的reu后调查数据将与半结构个人访谈回答的矩阵分析一起使用。学生的短期和中期成果包括像科学家一样工作的直接收益，对科学技能的舒适感，科学身份，对职业道路的清晰感，研究生产力，对STEM专业的坚持以及继续攻读研究生的意图。该项目旨在提高对师徒关系的认识，并旨在举办导师和学员研讨会，以积极影响来自代表性不足群体的本科研究生。该项目由EHR核心研究计划资助，该计划支持以STEM学习和学习环境为重点的基础研究，扩大STEM的参与，以及STEM专业劳动力的发展。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。

Understanding mentoring relationships is critical to increasing diversity in STEM fields. Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Utah propose to study the effects of mentor relationship mismatch on student outcomes during NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs. This project aims to employ a novel approach to studying mentoring by examining multilevel mentoring and demographics of students and the mentor team. The project aims to collect data from participating students and mentors from across the country at the end of the summer research program and during the next year to gauge outcomes related to STEM interest and persistence and intent to follow a STEM career pathway. This project aligns with the EHR Core Research program’s goal of addressing challenges in STEM interest, learning, and participation. The project aims to address three interrelated research questions, including how mentoring relationship heterogeneity impacts short-term and mid-term student outcomes, if these effects can be moderated by interactional dynamics between mentors and mentees, and how mentoring relationship heterogeneity impacts educational, research, and career goals immediately after the REU experience and after one year. Mentoring Relationship Heterogeneity in Context provides a conceptual framework focusing on how student mentees match with multiple mentors, including graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The concept of programmatic heterogeneity will be used to measure the dissimilarity between students’ demographic background and the demographic composition of their REU program. Post-REU surveys collected from the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) data will be used along with a matrix analysis of semi-structure individual interview responses. Short-and mid-term student outcomes consist of immediate gains in working like a scientist, comfort with science skills, science identity, sense of clarity about career path, research productivity, persistence in STEM major, and intent to pursue graduate school. The project seeks to advance knowledge about mentoring relationships and aims to produce mentor and mentee workshops to positively impact undergraduate research students from underrepresented groups. The project is funded by the EHR Core Research program that supports fundamental research focused on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM professional workforce development.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.