Understanding Changes in Undergraduate Mentors Over Time

Snodgrass Rangel, V., Rhea, L., Henderson, J., & Greer, R. (2024). The long reach of mentoring: a descriptive study of how the benefits of mentoring to mentors vary over time. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 33(1), 129–149.

Introduction

Mentoring relationships are often studied in terms of their impact on mentees, yet recent research suggests that mentors themselves experience profound benefits from their participation in these relationships. Snodgrass Rangel and colleagues (2025) contribute to this expanding field of knowledge by examining how undergraduate mentors in an after school STEM program develop over time.

Methods

Their study examines the development of three core psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—among mentors as they progress through multiple semesters of service. 

Interviews were conducted with 30 undergraduate mentors who participated in an afterschool STEM program for elementary students between 2017 and 2022. The program, designed to enhance STEM exposure for fourth- and fifth-grade students, involved mentors guiding students through engineering design projects over multiple semesters. 

Results

The findings reveal that while mentors gain significant benefits from their experiences, the nature of these benefits changes depending on the duration of their involvement.

(1) Competence: In their first semester, mentors often reported feelings of being overwhelmed, particularly in terms of classroom management and instructional delivery. By their second and third semesters, mentors described increased confidence in teaching STEM concepts, handling group dynamics, and engaging students effectively. By their fourth and fifth semesters, their learning plateaued, but they expressed comfort and expertise in their roles.

(2) Autonomy: Mentors’ sense of autonomy evolved over time. In their first semester, they exercised autonomy through choices about how to conduct lessons and interact with students. By their second and third semesters, they took more initiative in program development. In their later semesters, autonomy manifested in a broader sense of leadership roles in the program.

(3) Relatedness: The study found that mentors’ relationships with mentees and fellow mentors deepened over time. Early in their tenure, mentors described general concern for their mentees, but as their experience increased, these relationships became reciprocal, with mentors and mentees forming personal bonds. Mentor-to-mentor relationships also strengthened over time, providing social and professional support.

Discussion

The findings align with prior research suggesting that prolonged engagement in mentorship leads to more profound developmental gains (Anderson & DuBois, 2023).

The study also raises important considerations for mentor retention. Given that the most significant developmental gains occur after at least three semesters, mentoring programs should prioritize strategies to encourage mentors to persist beyond their initial commitments. 

Implications for Programs

Mentoring programs may want to consider how they are assessing mentor change over time, and how they are facilitating this change. For the former, programs may consider incorporating monitoring processes like self-report or brief interviews with mentors at consistent intervals. For the latter, programs may consider training mentors to better understand the developmental process and incentivizing mentors to remain engaged in the program.

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