Beyond Role Models: How Mentors Must Build Competency to Boost Research Skills

Cutillas, A., Benolirao, E., Camasura, J., Golbin, R., Yamagishi, K., & Ocampo, L. (2023). Does mentoring directly improve students’ research skills? Examining the role of information literacy and competency development. Education Sciences, 13(7), 694. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070694

Introduction

Cutillas and colleagues (2023) investigated how mentoring influences undergraduate students’ research skill development, using Bandura’s social learning theory as a framework. Recognizing that mentorship often enhances confidence and knowledge, the study sought to clarify whether mentoring directly improves research skills—or whether other factors mediate this relationship.

Methods

The researchers surveyed 539 undergraduates from multiple disciplines at Cebu Technological University in the Philippines, all of whom had completed a research course. Using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), they tested seven hypothesized relationships among mentoring, information literacy (seeking and sharing behaviors), competency development, and research skills.

Results

Six of seven hypotheses were supported. Mentoring significantly improved information-seeking (β = 0.38), information-sharing (β = 0.37), and competency development (β = 0.67), but did not directly enhance research skills. Instead, information literacy and competence fully mediated this relationship. Students with stronger information behaviors and competencies demonstrated better ability to formulate questions, analyze data, and interpret results.

Discussion

The findings reveal that mentoring is not a “magic bullet” for research skill development. Instead of direct instruction alone, mentors must first focus on developing students’ information-seeking/sharing behaviors and their foundational competence. For an undergraduate to truly develop research skills, the technical knowledge transfer from the mentor must be coupled with the mentee’s capacity for cognitive processes like distilling, interpreting, and utilizing information.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

Mentoring programs should pivot from solely role-modeling and giving mechanical research directives. Training should focus on equipping faculty mentors with strategies to actively shape mentee behaviors related to information literacy (how to search, evaluate, and share information) and competency development. This ensures that mentoring efforts translate into measurable improvements in the students’ research capacity.

Read the full paper here.