Lee Star W, Miyasato Haley, Tirado Jocelyn, Dingwall Stephanie, Cardullo Richard A
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, California, United States of America.
Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, California, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Sep 9;20(9):e0332153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0332153. eCollection 2025.
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.
对于参与本科研究经历的学生来说，有诸多益处，包括提高在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的保留率和坚持度。通过开展研究，少数族裔学生更有可能攻读研究生并从事STEM职业。研究经历的益处部分是由学生与其教师研究导师的互动所介导的。在这种关系中建立信任要求学生相信他们的教师导师既称职又有爱心。在此，我们采用混合方法来评估学生与其研究导师之间的关系。我们调查了少数族裔学生及其教师导师对导师能力和善意的看法。学生对教师导师能力的评价高于导师对自己的评价。相比之下，学生对教师导师善意的评价显著低于导师对自己的评价。在聚焦于善意的后续访谈中，学生强调教师导师通过工具性支持（即研究技能或职业指导）展现关怀；教师导师则描述为学生提供心理社会（即社交或情感）支持。我们的结果表明，少数族裔学生及其教师导师在研究中的师徒关系中传达关怀的方式存在差异。本研究的结果指出了教师导师在本科研究经历中如何更好地支持少数族裔学生。
