Purpose

The purpose of this case study is to explore the perceptions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty members toward mentoring undergraduates.

Design/methodology/approach

Within the context of a student scholarship and faculty development project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), STEM faculty members were interviewed at a small teaching-focused university in South Texas, United States. This research study utilized a qualitative case study approach based on semi-structured interviews with nine Mathematics and Computer Science faculty members. Transcripts were coded thematically, beginning with open coding and continuing with repeated rounds of comparison leading to the identification of four themes.

Findings

Four themes were identified in the data: describing settings where mentoring occurs, identifying the tasks of mentoring, developing skills for mentoring others and inhabiting the identity of a mentor. These findings suggest that increasing faculty engagement and effectiveness in mentoring STEM students may be a matter of broadening the definition of mentoring and helping faculty members develop the identity of a mentor.

Practical implications

In an effort to promote retention of students, specifically within STEM fields, many initiatives highlight the importance of faculty mentoring for undergraduate students. This research suggests that faculty members' perceptions of the role and structure of a mentoring relationship will shape this relationship and have an impact on student persistence and success.

Originality/value

While most studies of faculty–student mentoring focus on the experiences of students, this study explored faculty members' perceptions of that relationship.

中文翻译：

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STEM教职员工及其对指导的看法：“我不想成为榜样”

目的

本案例研究的目的是探索科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教职员工对指导本科生的看法。

设计/方法/方法

在美国国家科学基金会（NSF）资助的一项学生奖学金和教师发展项目的背景下，STEM的教师在美国南德克萨斯州的一所小型教学型大学中接受了采访。这项研究采用了定性案例研究方法，该方法基于对9位数学和计算机科学系成员进行的半结构化访谈。抄本按主题进行编码，从开放式编码开始，到重复的比较轮次继续进行，从而确定了四个主题。

发现

数据中确定了四个主题：描述指导发生的环境，确定指导的任务，发展指导其他人的技能以及居住指导者的身份。这些发现表明，提高教师参与STEM学生的积极性和有效性可能是拓宽指导的定义并帮助教师发展导师的身份的问题。

实际影响

为了提高学生的保留率，特别是在STEM领域内，许多举措都强调了教师指导对本科生的重要性。这项研究表明，教师对导师关系的作用和结构的理解将影响这种关系，并对学生的坚持和成功产生影响。

创意/价值

尽管大多数师生指导的研究都侧重于学生的经历，但这项研究还是探索了教员对这种关系的看法。