Abstract

The positive influence of undergraduate research and mentoring on student success in STEM fields has been well-established. However, the role that the gender of a research mentor may play in the undergraduate research experience warrants further investigation. This is an especially critical issue to address, since the lack of female role models in STEM fields is acknowledged as an impediment to the success and progress of women pursuing STEM-careers. To evaluate how the gender of undergraduate research mentors influences the research experience of students, we collected and analyzed surveys from undergraduates and alumni who had completed undergraduate research at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. We found that even though students did not select mentors based on gender, there were differences in how students perceived their mentors, depending on the gender of their mentors. Interestingly, students with female mentors were more likely than students with male mentors to report that their research experience had prepared them for a career in science. Further, our gender-pairing analyses revealed that students who expressed that the gender of their mentor had contributed to their relationship with their mentor were more likely to have a female mentor. Our data indicate that female mentors favorably influence the undergraduate research experience of both male and female students. Finally, our study reinforces the conclusions of previous studies demonstrating that undergraduate research and mentoring are beneficial for students. Overall, our findings support that, for students to fully benefit from their undergraduate research experience, undergraduate research opportunities for students should include an equitable representation of female mentors.

Highlights

  • Undergraduate research benefits students in multiple areas

  • Responses from alumni and undergraduate students combined showed that the majority (94.8%, n = 481) felt that the gender of their mentor did not influence the selection of their undergraduate research mentor

  • Our study shows that undergraduate students do not display any conscious biases when selecting mentors, but they seem to perceive mentors differently based on their gender

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Summary

Introduction

Undergraduate research benefits students in multiple areas. Past survey studies show that students who have completed undergraduate research achieve better grades [1], are more confident, have a better understanding of science and how research is conducted, as well as a greater awareness about the culture of research [2,3,4]. Students who engaged in undergraduate research have a greater interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers and in obtaining a graduate degree, as compared to those students who did not participate in undergraduate research [2, 5].

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