Outcomes and Characteristics of Faculty/Student Mentorship in PhD Programs

Michelle Mollica^{1, 2,} and Lynne Nemeth¹

¹College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina

²D’Youville College, Buffalo, NY

Cite this paper:
Michelle Mollica and Lynne Nemeth. Outcomes and Characteristics of Faculty/Student Mentorship in PhD Programs. American Journal of Educational Research. 2014; 2(9):703-708. doi: 10.12691/education-2-9-1

Abstract

With increasing numbers of doctoral programs, and a persistent high attrition rate, the need to provide support to PhD students grows. Faculty mentoring is one strategy employed by many doctoral programs to address attrition, although objectives, methods and responsibilities of the mentor role vary. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to synthesize outcomes and characteristics of faculty/student mentorship in PhD programs. This integrative review included studies from 2003-April 2014 in peer-reviewed journals, found from a comprehensive search of PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycInfo, and GoogleScholar. Key search terms included: mentor, faculty, student, advisor, doctoral, education, engagement, attrition, retention, and PhD. The search strategy yielded a total of 850 references; 47 were retrieved, read and rated for relevance and research quality. A set of 12 articles met relevance criteria. Results indicate that although successful faculty mentoring is time consuming, students benefit from decreases in social isolation, and increased progression and retention through doctoral programs.

Keywords:
mentor doctoral programs phd faculty student

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Gonzales L, Allum J, Sowell R. Graduate enrollment and degrees: 2002 to 2012. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools; 2013.
[2]	Gardner S. Student and faculty attributions of attrition in high and low-completing doctoral programs in the United States. Higher Education. 2008.
[3]	Gardner S. Fitting the mold of graduate school: A qualitative study of socialization in doctoral education. Innovative Higher Education. 2008;33:125-38.
[4]	Paglis L, Green S, Bauer T. Does adviser mentoring add value? A longitudinal study of mentoring and doctoral student outcomes. Research in Higher Education. 2006; 47(4): 451-76.
[5]	Bernier A, Larose S, Soucy N. Academic mentoring in college: The interactive role of student's and mentor's interpersonal dispositions. Research in Higher Education. 2005; 46(1): 29-51.
[6]	Hall L, Burns L. Identity development and mentoring in doctoral education. Harvard Educational Review. 2009; 79(1): 49-70.
[7]	Ehrenberg R, Jakubson G, Groen J, So E, Price J. Inside the black box of doctoral education: What program characteristics influence doctoral students' attrition and graduation probabilities? Cornell University Working Papers. 2005; 83.
[8]	Whittemore R, Knafl K. The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2005; 52: 546-53.
[9]	Gallo V, Egger M, McCormack V, Farmer P, Ioannidis JP, Kirsch-Volders M et al. Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology: An extension of the STROBE statement. PLoS Medicine. 2011; 8(10).
[10]	Schulz K, Altman D, Moher D. CONSORT 2010 Statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2010; 152.
[11]	National CASP Collaboration for Qualitative Methodologies, editor. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). England: Public Health Resource Unit; 2006.
[12]	Barnes B, Austin A. The role of doctoral advisors: A look at advising from the advisor's perspective. Innovative Higher Education. 2009; 33: 297-315.
[13]	Felder P. On doctoral student development: Exploring faculty mentoring in the shaping of African American doctoral student success. The Qualitative Report. 2010; 15(2): 455-74.
[14]	Ku H, Lahman M, Yeh H, Cheng Y. Into the academy: Preparing and mentoring international doctoral students. Education Tech Research Development. 2008; 56: 365-77.
[15]	Lechuga V. Faculty-graduate student mentoring relationships: Mentors' perceived roles and responsibilities. Higher Education. 2011; 62: 757-71.
[16]	Protivnak J, Foss L. An exploration of themes that influence the counselor education doctoral student experience. Counselor Education and Supervision. 2009; 48: 239-56.
[17]	Bell-Ellison B, Dedrick R. What do doctoral students value in their ideal mentor? Research in Higher Education. 2008; 49: 555-67.
[18]	Maher M, Ford M, Thompson C. Degree progress of women doctoral students: Factors that constrain, facilitate, differentiate. The Review of Higher Education. 2004; 27(3): 385-408.
[19]	Rose G. Group differences in graduate students' concepts of the ideal mentor. Research in Higher Education. 2005; 46(1): 53-80.
[20]	Webb A, Wangmo T, Ewen H, Teaster P, Hatch L. Peer and faculty mentoring for students pursuing a PhD in gerontology. Educational Gerontology. 2009; 35: 1089-106.
[21]	Mullen C. The WIT cohort: A case study of informal doctoral mentoring. Journal of Further and Higher Education. 2003; 27(4): 411-26.