Dissertation Defense Announcement

College of Education announces the Final Dissertation Defense of

Shondolyn Sanders

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

April 23, 2019 at 9:30 AM in Ball Hall, Room 103

Advisor: Laura Reid Marks

The Influence of Mentoring and Sense of Belonging on the Self-Efficacy Development of Doctoral Students of Color

ABSTRACT: Objectives: The current study examined the conditions under which having a sense of belonging to one's academic community moderated the impact of mentor effectiveness of dissertation chair on self-efficacy beliefs (i.e., academic, career-decision, and research) in psychology doctoral students of color. Method: Data from 104 non-White psychology doctoral students (78.8% female and 19.2% male) were collected from psychology doctoral programs across the United States and analyzed using PROCESS version 3.2 for SPSS. Results: Effective mentoring from dissertation chair was positively associated with research self-efficacy. Sense of belonging was positively associated with academic, career-decision, and research self-efficacy. The researcher found that the association between effective mentoring from dissertation chair and career decision self-efficacy was strongest among individuals who reported a greater sense of belonging. This association, however, was not significant for individuals who reported lower levels of sense of belonging. Conclusions: Having positive, effective mentorship experiences with dissertation chair and a sense of belonging to one's academic community can promote students' beliefs that they can master skills necessary for success in doctoral programs. These findings underscore the importance of examining mentoring experiences with dissertation chairs and contextual influences in a nuanced manner and highlight the need for interventions at both individual mentor and departmental levels.