Type

Text

Type

Dissertation

Advisor

Waters, Harriet | Waters, Everett | Robinson, John | Ferguson, David.

Date

2014-12-01

Keywords

attachment theory, mentor relationships, social support, women in science | Developmental psychology

Department

Department of Social/Health Psychology.

Language

en_US

Source

This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.

Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76802

Publisher

The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.

Format

application/pdf

Abstract

Recent years have seen a concerted effort to increase the number of women pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Although one approach to retention of undergraduates in STEM fields has been formal mentoring programs, other channels, such as naturally occurring mentor relationships, have served to retain students in science and other disciplines as well. The current project investigated the interplay between attachment representations of close relationships, social support and mentor relationships. The first aim was to examine the relationship between attachment and general facets of social support. The second aim was to assess benefits of mentor relationships on social support and intrapersonal domains. Lastly, the third aim investigated the role of attachment in mentor relationships. One hundred and twelve undergraduate women, in STEM and non-STEM fields, participated in the study. Attachment representations were assessed using the Attachment Script Assessment, a recently developed narrative assessment measuring knowledge of and access to a secure base script, with correlates to the Adult Attachment Interview. I did not identify a relationship between attachment and general social support measures. The social support measures, however, appeared to capture global aspects of support-provisions, and not relationship-specific perceptions of support. I found that mentored individuals reported a larger social support network than their non-mentored peers. Other differences were found along inter and intrapersonal domains. Notably, I found a positive relationship between secure base script knowledge and mentor-provided support. Support-provisions included personal and emotional guidance, advice and advocacy, among other domains. However, such patterns only emerged among Non-STEM protégés, a group that rated their mentor relationship as more important than STEM protégés. Taken together, these results suggest that secure base knowledge increases the extent to which protégés are able to use their mentor as a secure base from which to explore, but only in the context of a genuine close relationship. This project raises some issues and points to the continued use of attachment theory in understanding, forming, and evaluating mentor relationships. Recommendations for formal mentor initiatives, as well as future research directions, are discussed. | Recent years have seen a concerted effort to increase the number of women pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Although one approach to retention of undergraduates in STEM fields has been formal mentoring programs, other channels, such as naturally occurring mentor relationships, have served to retain students in science and other disciplines as well. The current project investigated the interplay between attachment representations of close relationships, social support and mentor relationships. The first aim was to examine the relationship between attachment and general facets of social support. The second aim was to assess benefits of mentor relationships on social support and intrapersonal domains. Lastly, the third aim investigated the role of attachment in mentor relationships. One hundred and twelve undergraduate women, in STEM and non-STEM fields, participated in the study. Attachment representations were assessed using the Attachment Script Assessment, a recently developed narrative assessment measuring knowledge of and access to a secure base script, with correlates to the Adult Attachment Interview. I did not identify a relationship between attachment and general social support measures. The social support measures, however, appeared to capture global aspects of support-provisions, and not relationship-specific perceptions of support. I found that mentored individuals reported a larger social support network than their non-mentored peers. Other differences were found along inter and intrapersonal domains. Notably, I found a positive relationship between secure base script knowledge and mentor-provided support. Support-provisions included personal and emotional guidance, advice and advocacy, among other domains. However, such patterns only emerged among Non-STEM protégés, a group that rated their mentor relationship as more important than STEM protégés. Taken together, these results suggest that secure base knowledge increases the extent to which protégés are able to use their mentor as a secure base from which to explore, but only in the context of a genuine close relationship. This project raises some issues and points to the continued use of attachment theory in understanding, forming, and evaluating mentor relationships. Recommendations for formal mentor initiatives, as well as future research directions, are discussed. | 101 pages

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.