Reexamining the Interrelationship of Mentorship, Undergraduate Research and Identity Development

There is considerable literature on mentoring relationships in higher education, on undergraduate research (UGR) experiences and the identity development of university students. There is, however, little previous work that brings these three diverse literatures together. This presentation sets out to examine how mentoring relationships in undergraduate research experiences influence student identity formation in personal and professional communities. This multi-institutional and multidisciplinary effort introduces work in progress developed at Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning Seminar on Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research. While this work aims to explore how students negotiate shifting identities across personal and professional communities, its preliminary exploration will be on the most important values of mentoring relationships in UGR, and on the mentoring practices that shape students’ identity development. We propose that students’ ability to understand themselves as researchers is largely shaped by the ways in which they navigate/negotiate between personal and professional identities. We would also suggest that mentors might not be aware of the challenges that some students—particularly from under-represented populations—face in negotiating personal and professional identities. Therefore, an outcome for our research is to develop resources for faculty preparing to work with undergraduate researchers