Gender Differences in the Influence of Faculty–Student Mentoring Relationships on Satisfaction with College among African Americans

Abstract

Prior research has focused on mentoring as a concept and its role in facilitating the personal and professional success of business leaders, faculty members, and graduate students in general, without giving equal attention to the influence of mentoring on outcomes among Black undergraduate students. Using CSEQ data from 653 African American collegians, we found that although Black men report more frequent engagement than women in both formal and informal relationships with their faculty mentors; gender neither yields a statistically significant influence on satisfaction with college, controlling for confounding effects, nor mediates the influence of mentoring on Black students’ satisfaction with college. Implications for future policy, practice, and research are discussed in light of critical issues in higher education.