Source: Review of Educational Research, 84(3), September 2014, p. 365-391.
This review summarizes 20 published studies on undergraduate mentoring programs from 2008 to 2012.
Each study was assessed based on limitations identified in two earlier reviews of the mentoring literature: definition, theory, and methods.
The results indicate minimal progress has been made in these three areas.
However, every study included the functions of mentoring, and most studies were guided by a theory or a conceptual framework.
Aspects of social validity, a construct not previously examined, were assessed and found to be present in 50% of studies.
Finally, information on primary mentoring program components, another dimension not previously examined, was absent in 75% of studies, making replication difficult.