Promoting STEM Trainee Research Self-Efficacy: A Mentor Training Intervention.

Abstract

Self-efficacy, or an individual's belief in his or her ability to successfully complete a given task, is a significant predictor of outcome expectations, interests, career aspirations, and persistence among undergraduate students in STEM fields. Despite the central role that efficacy beliefs play in STEM career choice and persistence, few training opportunities have used theoretical models like social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to help mentors learn how to support trainee research self-efficacy. To address this gap, a mentor training intervention was developed to translate the research and theory behind self-efficacy and into the practice of mentoring in STEM. Evaluation data from mentors who participated in (<i>N</i> = 166) and facilitators who implemented (<i>N</i> = 7) a training based on SCCT were used to assess the effectiveness of such an intervention. Mentors reported high satisfaction and significant retrospective skill gains related to promoting trainee research self-efficacy. Mentors also reported changes that they intended to make in their mentoring. Facilitators with varying levels of familiarity with self-efficacy were able to implement the module effectively and provided additional suggestions for further improvement of the training.