Open AccessHow Do Former Undergraduate Mentors Evaluate Their Mentoring Experience 3-Years Post-Mentoring: A Phenomenological Study
Author(s) -
Kari L. Nelson,
Christine E. Cutucache
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2991
Subject(s) - interpretative phenomenological analysis , psychology , phenomenology (philosophy) , pedagogy , career development , medical education , longitudinal study , perspective (graphical) , qualitative research , sociology , medicine , social science , philosophy , epistemology , pathology , artificial intelligence , computer science
This phenomenological study involves a unique, longitudinal assessment of the lived experiences of former undergraduate mentors (n=7) in light of their current experiences (i.e., career or advanced schooling). The objective of a phenomenological study is to engage in in-depth probing of a representative number of participants. Specifically, we followed up with graduates of the Nebraska STEM 4U (NE STEM 4U) intervention 3 years post-program, with the overall goal of describing the mentors’ experiences using the lens of their current experiences. This type of longitudinal perspective of mentoring is greatly lacking in the current literature. At the time of the interviews, all graduates were either in a STEM career or STEM-based graduate/professional program. Three major themes emerged: Career, inspiration, and challenges. Each of these themes was further broken down into sub-themes to describe the essence of the mentoring phenomenon for these individuals. This information may be beneficial for any programs that engage undergraduate students in mentoring.