Princeton’s requirement that all undergraduates complete a Junior Project and a Senior Thesis in order to graduate offers a unique opportunity to mentor your students as researchers–giving students key skills that readily translate to their future graduate careers or professions. In this section we offer some general guidelines and best practices for supporting your students as a mentor as they embark on their independent work. Goals and Benefits As a mentor to undergraduate students, you will support them as they develop the key skills that come through doing in-depth, sustained research. You might consider the goals to be much broader than a polished, cohesive, well-researched thesis: these include process-oriented skills such as project and time management, analytical and critical thinking, the ability to participate in a critical conversation, the ability to communicate and work through issues with someone more experienced, and writing and public speaking-skills that transfer far beyond a student’s specialization in any one specific discipline. In the scholarship on learning and teaching, mentoring has been shown to be a “high impact” practice that deeply and directly impacts students’ success and facilitates “deep learning” (Walkington et al., “Striving for Excellence” 105). Mentoring leads to higher academic achievement and retention rates; being mentored well increases students’ resilience and their sense of belonging, building “self-confidence in professional skills and abilities” (Lunsford et al. 317-318). Helen Walkington, et al note: ”A positively mentored UR experience balances challenge and support in ways that inspire the student to see themselves as part of the research community” (“Mentoring in Undergraduate Research” 143). Undergraduate students repeatedly report that their relationship with their faculty mentor was the most impactful aspect of their research experience (see Walkington et al., “Striving for Excellence” 105). At Princeton, this one-to-one mentoring relationship is important to many undergraduate students, even upon entering the University: 67% of Princeton students surveyed in a recent study of incoming first years, for instance, think faculty contact outside of classes will be very or extremely important. Mentoring epitomizes the Princeton culture of “close student-faculty engagement, where faculty members often serve as mentors to students as they progress in their studies.” Mentoring relationships also positively impact faculty, leading to a deeper alignment between teaching and research. While many believe that the time it takes to mentor detracts from a faculty member’s own research agenda, a recent study found that mentors were more, not less, productive, learning from their students’ work and even sometimes co-authoring articles with them (Walkington et al. “Mentoring in Undergraduate Research” 140). Best Practices Successful mentoring is a learned, not innate, skill, and there are some approaches that have been shown to be especially effective in supporting undergraduate researchers. Perhaps because it is so individualized, the quality of the mentoring dynamic matters and directly impacts its effectiveness (Walkington et al., “Striving for Excellence” 105). When comparing some common qualities of award-winning mentors of undergraduates, researchers found that key to mentors’ success is “an ability to establish and sustain a high level of challenge, while maintaining meaningful engagement and a feeling of achievement among students” (Walkington, et al., “Mentoring in Undergraduate Research” 137). In the ASHE Higher Education Report on Mentoring Undergraduate Students, Gloria Crisp, et al. summarizes the research on mentoring, noting that advising undergraduates requires an approach that is structured and focusing on building the general skills required to manage a large research project (24). What follows are ten practices that have been shown to create successful mentoring relationships between faculty and undergraduate student researchers, based on a recent summation by Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. We have also drawn on Walkington et al.’s “Striving for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research,” adapting the list to Princeton’s specific program of undergraduate research. Establishing a Supportive Mentee-Mentor Relationship Invest time in the early stages of your mentee’s research project While the specific deadlines and scope of the JP or IW projects are set, it may be difficult for your student to land on an appropriate scale and scope of a topic. It can be helpful to meet with your student early on to help them refine and narrow their topic, and work with them to set up manageable expectations and timelines for the research process to come. This is a time, also, to begin to assess your mentee’s strengths and weaknesses and to determine in what ways you might best be able to offer support and guidance as a mentor (a challenging task for some faculty, since it takes time to personalize an approach). Even more than in a traditional class setting, mentorship allows you to fully tailor your approach to meet your student’s needs and where they are coming from. For instance, it might be helpful to create a timeline together for the general scope of the project, to share how you get started with your own research projects, and/or to coach them into pinpointing a specific research question as they move from general to more targeted research. This initial stage can set up a robust, well-organized project and also set up a good working relationship with your mentee in which they can come to you with research questions or challenges. With your mentee, set up clear expectations for your relationship, and clear scaffolds for your mentee Talk early on about some basic logistics with your mentee: how often would you and they like to meet? What do you expect them to prepare in advance of your meetings? How can you best support and guide them (through reading drafts, fielding questions, brainstorming ideas, offering practical research advice, etc.)? You might share with them directly how you see your role as a mentor. In studies of successful mentoring practices, many faculty describe the importance of creating clear goals and a mentor/mentee contract stating explicit expectations for both parties (Walkington et al, “Striving for Excellence” 115-116). For instance, here is a mentoring contract for joining a lab team, created at Oregon State University. We have modified this contract to fit the context of non-lab independent thesis work in this sample mentoring contract. Feel free to open the document and make a copy that you can edit and adjust. Together with this conversation about your mutual expectations, we recommend scaffolding the research process with smaller assignments, if your department does not already require them. These may include brief research reports of key books the mentee reads, informal writing that ties their reading to their research question, a prospectus, an annotated bibliography, a deadline for a first chapter draft, or an outline. One of the key skills you are teaching is project management, and by offering frequent deadlines you are making explicit and guiding them through the multi-step process. Encouraging Learning, Connection, and Independence Teach the techniques and skills necessary for conducting research in your discipline While your mentee may already have well-developed research skills, it can be helpful to locate any gaps by having conversations early on about the student’s past experiences. Then, you can teach the needed skills, and/or refer your mentee to appropriate resources on campus, such as research librarians or writing tutors in the Writing Center. If the student’s work requires IRB approval, remind them of the deadline and planning required to navigate this process. Your department’s independent research guide lists many of these resources for students. Offer emotional support and connection with the student while affirming your high expectations Studies have shown that students place great value on the personal connections they have with their mentors, which are particularly impactful for students from underrepresented backgrounds. When faculty know students better, they can personalize their recommendations and assignments to suit their students strengths and challenges. When students trust the faculty member, they are more ready to come to them for guidance with specific struggles and questions (See Walkington et al, “Striving for Excellence,” 108). Affirming your high expectations and your belief that your students can meet them also mitigates the effects of “stereotype threat.” As Claude Steele and others have shown, underrepresented students can perform poorly based on their anxiety about how they are perceived and the negative beliefs about them that might prevail (see Steele and Aronson, “Stereotype Threat” and Steele, “A Threat in the Air”). Normalizing challenge and difficulty as part of the research and writing process that everyone experiences can help to mitigate such anxiety. Create community across different researchers For example, you might host social events for the undergraduate researchers in your lab or department. You might create working groups across the department, whether by connecting graduate students to undergraduates as research and writing coaches or by creating small groups led by graduate students to support writing. Undergraduate students can learn significantly from graduate students, who in turn can learn key mentoring skills. Make time for one-to-one meetings with your mentee As Walkington notes, many research studies on mentoring have shown the importance of creating time for one-to-one meetings with your mentee. Undergraduates who have met regularly with their mentor often have a more accurate sense of their particular strengths and weaknesses, countering the typical unrealistically high expectations for themselves. In addition, research shows that one-to-one sustained time and attention has a positive effect on both the project’s success and the student’s feelings about the process. It can be helpful to create a regular schedule for such meetings to create accountability for both you and your mentee. Foster students’ increased levels of independence Express interest and curiosity about your student’s ideas and discoveries: treating your students like collaborators or colleagues can increase their confidence and help them to take ownership of their work. If the student is doing work within the lab as part of a broader research project, it can help to remind the student how their specific work fits into the research’s goals and implications, encouraging them to see the value of their contributions. Connecting to a Broader Research Community Introduce your students to other professionals in the field Connecting your students to researchers in the field helps with their professional development. Students in multiple studies have described the tremendous value of going to conferences with their mentor and being introduced to their colleagues through informal or formal socializing opportunities–indeed, as an even more valuable opportunity than presenting their own research. Such connections can help students to learn key social norms of the discipline and also make connections in preparation for graduate school or their future professional lives. Guide postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in intentional approaches to mentoring undergraduates Mentoring is not often taught explicitly to new teachers, and research groups can be a valuable opportunity for early career researchers to cultivate this important skill. If you are not in a lab setting, cultivate mentoring by asking graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to lead undergraduate writing groups. Mentoring can help these growing scholars to develop their own skills and offer additional support for undergraduate researchers, while fostering community within your department or field. Cultivate your mentee’s presentation and writing skills and encourage them to share their research Offering feedback on drafts and guidance for any public presentations your students do can help them to cultivate key oral and written communication skills. Research has found that encouraging students to share their research with experts in the field (for instance, through developing an article or conference paper) increases communication skills and self-confidence and also helps them feel like part of a scholarly conversation and to see the broader impact of their research. In supporting your mentee’s writing skills, don’t hesitate to refer them to the Princeton Writing Center for one-to-one consultations with writing fellows. References and Additional Resources Crisp, Gloria, et al. “Special Issue: Mentoring Undergraduate Students.” ASHE Higher Education Report, vol. 43, no. 1, 2017, pp.7-103, https://doi-org.ezproxy.princeton.edu/10.1002/aehe.20117. Johnson & Ridley, The Elements of Mentoring: 75 Practices of Master Mentors. St. Martin's Press, 2018. Lunsford, Laura Gail et al. “Mentoring in Higher Education.” The Sage Handbook of Mentoring, edited by David Clutterbuck, et al.. SAGE Publications Ltd, 2017, pp. 316-334. “Salient Practices.” Center for Engaged Learning. Elon University, https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/salientpractices/, accessed 8/10/23. Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). “Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 69, no. 5, 797–811. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797 Steele, C. M. (1997). “A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance.” American Psychologist, vol. 52, no. 6, 613–629. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613 Walkington, Helen et al. “Striving for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research: The Challenges and Approaches to 10 Salient Practices.” Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research, edited by Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, et al. Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), 2018, pp. 105-129. Walkington, Helen et al. “Mentoring in Undergraduate Research: The Teacher’s Role.” The Cambridge Handbook of Undergraduate Research, edited by Angela Brew, et al.. Cambridge University Press, 2022, pp. 133-148.
