Quality over quantity: developmental mentor networks promote STEM undergraduate domain identity and well-being

Efforts to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have pointed to the importance of mentoring relationships for undergraduate students. However, mentoring research has only recently shifted focus from dyadic faculty-mentored relationships to a broader, more holistic evaluation of a network of mentors and the downstream impact on academic success and integration into STEM fields. Utilizing Developmental Mentor Network Theory and social network methods, this study evaluates how the characteristics of mentees who have at least one mentor, including the quality and structure of their individual networks, relate to social integration, well-being, and academic success for a large sample of White and Hispanic/Latino(a) STEM undergraduates. Results from pre-registered longitudinal structural equation model analyses suggest that having a high-quality mentor network supports long-term domain identity development and well-being. Our results highlight how the quality of mentoring relationships within a network of mentors, operationalized by the amount of emotional support, career support, role modeling, and the satisfaction of these relationships, promotes the personal and professional development and well-being of STEM undergraduates. Additionally, exploratory intersectional results suggest Hispanic/Latino(a) students’ well-being may be uniquely, positively benefited from an increased number of Hispanic/Latino(a) mentors. The findings of this study have implications for higher education policies and programs aimed at fostering the development of supportive, diverse mentor networks for STEM undergraduates.