Mentoring International Students in Social Work Doctoral Programs

Overview: International doctoral students have unique needs and barriers for their academic success and social integration. This study aims to fill the research gap pertaining to their mentoring needs and generate useful dialogue among social work doctoral programs regarding beneficial mentoring practices to ensure the success and wellbeing of international students.Proposal text: Background

Existing literature exploring mentoring relationships or lived experience of international students highlights the significant barriers to their academic success and overall well-being as well as their unique contributions to education in the United States (e.g., Hellsten & Prescott, 2004; Jairam & Kahl Jr, 2012; Khanal, J. & Gaulee, 2019; Song & Petracchi, 2015). Limited literature specific to social work international students indicates the importance of adapting the mentoring framework to provide the kind of mentoring support international doctoral students need, with needed support extending beyond the academic aspects of doctoral education (Cree, 2012; Song & Petracchi, 2015).These studies focusing on social work international students, however, were based on reflection of faculty or international students in general and not students in the social work doctoral program. To date, there is no research focusing on the perception of international social work doctoral students and their experience with mentoring relationships. The present study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by exploring the unique perspectives and experiences of international students in social work PhD programs regarding mentoring, which should have helpful implications for effective mentoring practices with this student population.

Method

This was a cross-sectional 87-item survey on mentoring that sought to understand international PhD students’ perspectives on academic and non-academic needs and stress, diversity and inclusion issues, and helpful practices and challenges related to doctoral mentoring in social work doctoral programs. The responses of international students were compared to domestic students to highlight similar and unique needs and perspectives between the two groups.

Results:

A total of 30 international students and 149 domestic students in PhD programs responded to the survey. The results indicate that international students have specific mentoring needs and higher levels of stress related to coursework, deciding on their research area, scholarly writing, epistemology/theory, and teaching skills. Compared to domestic students, international students reported less stress related to candidacy and their dissertation and higher overall satisfaction with their mentoring experience. International students reported similar views of helpful mentoring practices as domestic students, but with greater emphasis on emotional support indicating a preference for a relational-based mentoring relationship. While international students overall reported positive mentoring experiences pertaining to diversity and inclusion. significantly more international students than domestic students perceived that their mentor made insensitive or belittling comments toward the group(s) they identified with, which suggests the benefits of implicit bias training for faculty to increase cultural awareness and avoid unintentional harm.

Conclusion
Findings from this study highlight specific academic and non-academic mentoring needs of international social work doctoral students, the importance of a relational-based mentoring relationship, and areas needing additional attention in strengthening mentoring support for international students as well as future research.