Keeping Good Company While Finding One's Voice: The Influence of Natural Mentoring on Undergraduate Student Self-Authorship

Abstract of Dissertation Keeping Good Company While Finding One’s Voice:The Influence of Natural Mentoring on Undergraduate Student Self-Authorship The study examined the natural mentoring relationships of 10 students at a private residential liberal arts college in order to understand how natural mentoring relationships influence students’ development of self-authorship. Current mentoring literature focuses primarily on formal mentoring programs for the purposes of enrollment, retention, support of underrepresented students, and career. This study focused on natural mentoring, using the lens of self-authorship theory to better understand student development. The qualitative study took place at Gettysburg College where the researcher interviewed 10 students who had natural mentoring relationships of at least one year in length with a college employee. The students participated in an interview, followed by an electronic open-ended survey. The study resulted in seven themes and three findings. The themes demonstrated how the participants’ natural mentors aided them in boosting their confidence, supporting their academics, providing them guidance, discovering their potential, becoming their family, developing their self-awareness, and making their decisions. The three findings of the research study included how natural mentoring relationships influence students’ development of self-authorship and assist students in building their confidence to make decisions, as well as how students and mentors need to work together to navigate the nuances inherent in natural mentoring relationships. The study concluded with a discussion of the implications for practice, research, and policy, as well as suggestions for future research including exploring emerging counter narratives and codes, duplicating the study at other institutions, and continuing the study by collecting longitudinal data from the current participants.

Author

• Phillips, Danielle

Language

• English

Keyword

• self-authorship
• liberal arts
• natural mentoring
• mentoring
• decision-making

Date created

• 2025

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Higher Education Administration

Degree

• Ed.D.

Advisor

• Jakeman, Rick

Committee Member(s)

• Sonn, Andrew
• Stone, Ashley

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/db78tc876