UNDERSTANDING HOW PEER MENTORS MAKE MEANING OF THEIR ROLE Andrea Colby Engler Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in the School of Education, Indiana University May 2015 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. ____________________________________ Robin L. Hughes, Ph.D., Chair ____________________________________ Doctoral Committee Megan M. Palmer, Ph.D. March 4, 2015 ____________________________________ Michele J. Hansen, Ph.D. ii DEDICATION To my family, friends and the OTEAM: Thank you for all of your inspiration, support, encouragement, and love. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply appreciative of the support and love of those who provided me good company on my journey that started so long ago. I am especially thankful for the support of my family. My husband, Brad provided me time and space to finish, time to put it down for years to focus on our family, and faith that I could complete this degree. Thank you to my four children, Alex, Scott, Abbey, and Ethan. I began this journey when I was pregnant with Scott and I appreciate them helping mom to make it through. And thank you to my parents, my sister, and in- laws who stressed the importance of education, prayed endlessly for me, cheered me on while I juggled it all, and love me unconditionally. To have you all here to see me finish means the world to me. I am thankful to my chair and committee: to Robin Hughes, my chair, for taking me under her wing this last year and to Megan Palmer and Michele Hansen, for being on my committee and being so thoughtful. It was truly God’s hand to bring Robin and me together through our daughters’ love of volleyball on and off the court. Robin was more than a chair and a faculty member. She was my dissertation coach. Her techniques pushed me to figure things out on my own, guide me in the right direction when I was lost, and challenge me to push further when I was tired. I am so thankful to each of these amazing professionals and women role models to see me through to the end. I am grateful to my dean, staff, my peers at the university, and the peer mentors for inspiring my topic, cheering me on, and taking on additional responsibilities while I completed this dissertation. I want to specifically thank Stephanie Keiner, Jacob Cole, Cathy Buyarski, and the OTEAM coordinators for their ears that unconditionally listened iv to countless hours of incomplete ideas, motivated me through doubting days, and kept the office running smoothly through it all. Their confidence kept me going when I didn’t think that I could make it through one more bump in the road. I will be forever grateful for their infinite patience and faith. Early in my career, I was very fortunate to be mentored by great leadership in University College at IUPUI. They provided tremendous challenge and support to me as a young professional. In particular, my deans, Scott Evenbeck, Gayle Williams, and Barbara Jackson, set me on this road and stressed to me the importance of finishing and contributing my knowledge and experience to the field. I was blessed to learn so much from their work and expertise. Thank you for having faith in me and teaching me so much. Lastly, I share a special prayer of thanksgiving for the “prayer warriors” and my good friends at Zion Lutheran Church and School. These people are my church family who faithfully checked in on me, sent me texts of encouragement, hugged me when they saw me, and prayed endlessly for flowing words, clear thinking, and timely feedback. At one time or another, each of them provided company for me to cry on their shoulder, run miles at crazy hours with me in the morning, send meals to my family, and drive my kids to and from their events. I could not be more grateful for having them as friends and devoted people in my life. v Andrea Colby Engler UNDERSTANDING HOW PEER MENTORS MAKE MEANING OF THEIR ROLE In an effort to support undergraduate students and retain them, colleges and universities have created programs that use peer mentors to facilitate their transition to and academic success in college. Involving peer mentors in college student support programs has been shown to be effective in helping students with aspects of their academic success. Research has not focused on the essential experience of being in a peer mentor role. This study aimed to understand how peer mentors make meaning of their role, to capture their voice, and to gain insight into the essential experience of being a peer mentor. This phenomenological study used an inductive approach in describing and interpreting the data collected, in order to gain a deeper understanding of how peer mentors make meaning of their role. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with peer mentors with varying levels of experience from two different programs. The interview data was coded into themes providing insight on each mentor’s experience and their understanding of their experience, and were then organized using a holistic developmental framework that included the dimensions of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and epistemological development. The findings in this study suggested that peer mentors were able to describe their experiences in ways that reflected how their experiences caused them to pause, have new insights, and think differently in each of the three dimensions. Robin L. Hughes, Ph.D., Chair vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .........................................................................................4 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................4 Significance of the Study .........................................................................................5 Definition of Terms..................................................................................................6 Overview of Dissertation .........................................................................................7 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................8 Meaning Making ......................................................................................................8 Mentoring ...............................................................................................................10 The Story of Mentor...................................................................................10 History of Mentoring in Higher Education ................................................12 Tutors .............................................................................................12 Paraprofessionals ...........................................................................13 Defining Peer Mentoring ...........................................................................14 Mentoring Programs ..................................................................................17 Program Development ...................................................................17 Gender and Mentoring ...................................................................19 Race and Mentoring .......................................................................21 Program Effectiveness ...................................................................23 Peer Mentor Growth and Development .....................................................25 Holistic Development ............................................................................................29 vii Cognitive Constructivist Theories .............................................................30 Identity Development.................................................................................35 Use of the Holistic Theoretical Perspective in Research ...........................40 Summary of Implications for the Current Study....................................................44 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .........................................................................46 A Constructivist Perspective ..................................................................................46 Phenomenology......................................................................................................47 Method ...................................................................................................................49 Description of Participants .........................................................................50 Data Collection Methods ...........................................................................53 Interview Protocol ..........................................................................53 Data Analysis .............................................................................................54 The Researcher...........................................................................................57 Trustworthiness ..........................................................................................59 Human Subjects Review and Ethical Issues ..............................................63 CHAPTER FOUR: PARTICIPANT DESCRIPTIONS ...................................................64 Peer Mentor Descriptions ......................................................................................65 Participant 1: Kelly ....................................................................................65 Participant 2: Simon ...................................................................................66 Participant 3: Lucy .....................................................................................67 Participant 4: Ellie......................................................................................68 Participant 5: Lori ......................................................................................69 Participant 6: Abby ....................................................................................70 viii Participant 7: Cole......................................................................................70 Participant 8: Rick......................................................................................71 Participant 9: Trish .....................................................................................72 Participant 10: José ....................................................................................72 Participant 11: James .................................................................................73 Participant 12: Mary ..................................................................................73 Summary ................................................................................................................74 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS ...........................................................................................75 Intrapersonal Development ....................................................................................76 Personal Growth.........................................................................................77 Self-Confidence .........................................................................................80 Mentoring is Like a Mirror ........................................................................81 Interpersonal Development ....................................................................................83 Awareness of Differences in Others ..........................................................84 Epistemological Development ...............................................................................86 Self-Concept ..............................................................................................86 Summary of Interview Findings ............................................................................88 CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS..................................................89 How do Peer Mentors Make Meaning of their Role? ............................................89 In What Ways Does Being a Peer Mentor have a Developmental Impact on the Peer Mentor? ........................................................................................93 Implications for Practice ........................................................................................96 Critical Reflection ......................................................................................96 ix Learning Partnership Model ......................................................................98 Organizational Structure ..........................................................................101 Limitations of Research .......................................................................................102 Recommendations for Further Research ..............................................................103 Closing Thoughts .................................................................................................104 APPENDIX A: LETTER OF INVITATION TO PARTICIPANTS ...............................106 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ....................................................................107 APPENDIX C: IRB HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL LETTER ...............................108 APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW QUESTION SUMMARY ...............................................110 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................118 CURRICULUM VITAE x