Cross-Cultural Mentoring Relationship in International Chemistry and Biology Undergraduate Research Experiences

Engaging undergraduate students in authentic research is a powerful pedagogical tool for undergraduate education. The key to maximizing the benefit of research experiences is a proper mentoring relationship. Here, we present the findings of international chemistry and biology undergraduate research...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of chemical education Vol. 100; no. 9; pp. 3209 - 3219
Main Authors Yang, Jing, Maltese, Adam V., AnBlair, Daniel Donghyeak, Zhong, Qiu, Daleke, David
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 12.09.2023
American Chemical Society
Subjects
Biology
Chemistry
College students
Cultural heritage
Higher education
Mentoring
Mentoring programs
Students
Teaching methods
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate study
Mentoring Relationship
Critical Qualitative Methodology
Upper-Division Undergraduate
Undergraduate Research
Cross-Culture Communication
Chemical Education Research
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Summary:Engaging undergraduate students in authentic research is a powerful pedagogical tool for undergraduate education. The key to maximizing the benefit of research experiences is a proper mentoring relationship. Here, we present the findings of international chemistry and biology undergraduate research experiences studied via a critical qualitative methodology to understand the cross-cultural mentoring relationship. This study demonstrates that mentors and students came into a mentoring relationship with different sets of normative infrastructures, which entail their assumptions about the purposes, values, and beliefs of undergraduate research. Their normative infrastructures came from their cultural backgrounds and prior scientific training. Positive experiences of participants are attributed to the inherent characteristics of students, mentors, or the program as well as aligned settings. On the other hand, negative experiences are associated with misaligned settings. We propose that understanding mentoring relationships may uncover new ideas to improve mentors’ and students’ experiences within undergraduate scientific research.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00834