How Undergraduate Students Identify and Utilize Informal Mentors
After receiving a broad definition of mentoring, students were asked to indicate whether they had mentors and the types of assistance the mentor provided. In the absence of a formal mentoring program and with a decentralized and loosely structured academic advising program, one half of the undergraduate business majors sampled identified faculty members, administrators, parents, friends, relatives, and members of the business community as mentors. We examined the role and identity of informal mentors from an undergraduate perspective and explored the composition and needs of the unmentored student population as well. Implications for practice are discussed.
Contributor Notes
Margaret Cain McCarthy, Ph.D., is an associate professor and chair of the Teacher Education Department and the Director of the College Student Personnel Administration Program at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. With over 18 years of experience in higher education, she has served as an academic advisor and an associate dean and has extensive experience in student services and enrollment management.
Terri L. Mangione, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Cultural Studies and coordinator of the College Student Personnel Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Formerly an administrator at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, Dr. Mangione served there as an academic advisor, freshman seminar coordinator, Director of the Student Advisement Center, and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Both authors contributed equally to this study.
