Minoritized students and their faculty research mentors view benevolence differently in the relationship

by Star W. Lee, Haley Miyasato, Jocelyn Tirado, Stephanie Dingwall, Richard A. Cardullo

There are many benefits for students who participate in undergraduate research experiences, including increased retention and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). By doing research, minoritized students increase their likelihood of pursuing graduate school and STEM careers. The benefits of research experiences are partially mediated by students’ interactions with their faculty research mentor. Building trust in the relationship requires students to believe that their faculty mentors are both competent and caring. Here, we used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the relationship between students and their research mentors. We surveyed both minoritized students’ and their faculty mentors’ perceptions of the mentor’s ability and benevolence. Students rated the faculty mentors’ abilities higher than how mentors rated themselves. In contrast, students rated the faculty mentors’ benevolence significantly lower than how mentors rated themselves. In follow-up interviews focused on benevolence, students emphasized that faculty mentors demonstrated caring through instrumental support (i.e., research skills or career guidance); faculty mentors described providing psychosocial (i.e., social or emotional) support to students. Our results show that there was a difference in how minoritized students and their faculty mentors communicate care in mentor-mentee relationships in research. Findings from this study indicate how faculty mentors may better support minoritized students in undergraduate research experiences.