Date Presented 3/30/2017
Mentorship can support successful occupational performance. Themes of support to milestones and meaningfulness in mentorships emerged from group discussions with undergraduates with learning and attention disorders receiving formal mentorship. Findings can guide development of interventions.
Primary Author and Speaker: Consuelo M. Kreider
Contributing Authors: Angela Sexton, Marcia Kay Schneider, Zari Linden Whittaker, Sharon Medina
BACKGROUND: Students with disabilities (SWD) have lower college completion rates than those without (Newman et al., 2011). Research is needed to develop and test supportive interventions for SWD transitioning to and engaging in college activities. College SWD face occupational performance needs in managing and accessing supports related to academic, health and wellness, daily living, social participation, and campus life expectations that are compounded by disability-related considerations (Kreider, Bendixen, & Lutz, 2015). Mentorships are commonplace supports on college campuses; objectives range from classroom success and career development to providing social support or role models (Gershenfeld, 2014).
PURPOSE: We examined mentorship experiences of students with learning and attention disorders (L/AD) who received formal mentorship targeting professional and academic development. We asked, In what ways can mentorship support the occupational performance and transition experiences of college students with L/AD?
METHOD: This study involved qualitative analysis of data from a larger 4-yr study to develop, refine, and test a holistic multilevel model of support for students with learning disabilities (LD) at a research-intensive university. Participants were recruited through the campus disability office (CRO). Eligibility criteria included undergraduate status, registration with CRO, and eligibility for LD accommodations; those with coexisting attention disorder were not excluded. Undergraduates met monthly as a group and individually bimonthly with a graduate student mentor in their field of study; mentors received support for understanding L/AD. On-campus undergraduate meetings involved trainings followed by discussion of related experiences and strategies used to address identified concerns. Meeting transcripts and field notes from 15 meetings held during a 2-yr period were coded for broad discussion topics.
Mentorship was discussed in three meetings; 19 participants contributed to the mentorship topic. Mentorship data were further coded, reduced, and synthesized for conceptual themes. Rigor was enhanced via researchers’ attendance at undergraduate meetings, audio recording, constant comparison of data to conceptualizations, multiple coders, and frequent discussions to achieve consensus (Golafshani, 2003).
RESULTS: Two themes emerged from the data. The theme Support to Milestones describes the types and benefits of mentor supports, which include organizational, academic, professional, and emotional support, enabling some to attribute personal gains to the mentor’s support. The theme Meaningfulness in Mentorship, which describes valuation of the mentorship, has two subthemes. The subtheme Matter of Time describes time-related challenges and reasoning used to prioritize mentorship activity choices. The subtheme Albeit Surface Understanding describes perceptions, hurdles, and unanticipated gains related to having a mentor without L/AD and, for some, a mentor who differed culturally or academically.
CONCLUSION: Findings elucidate ways that structured mentorship supported occupational performance of undergraduates with L/AD. College-related occupations include participation in academics (e.g., homework, classroom, labs), nonacademics (e.g., living arrangements, domestic duties), extracurricular activities (e.g., campus life, clubs), prevocational activities (e.g., professional development), and health and wellness routines (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014). Structured mentorship programs are viable avenues for supporting occupational performance and needs of students with L/AD within college settings. This study contributes empirical knowledge important to research and practice in guiding development of mentorship interventions for transition-age college students with L/AD.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (3rd ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(Suppl. 1), S1–S48. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.682006
Gershenfeld, S. (2014). A review of undergraduate mentoring programs. Review of Educational Research, 84, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654313520512
Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. Qualitative Report, 8, 597–606.
Kreider, C. M., Bendixen, R. M., & Lutz, B. J. (2015). Holistic needs of university students with invisible disabilities: A qualitative study. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 35, 426–441. https://doi.org/10.3109/01942638.2015.1020407
Newman, L., Wagner, M., Knokey, A. M., Marder, C., Nagle, K., Shaver, D., & Wei, X. (2011). The post-high school outcomes of young adults with disabilities up to 8 years after high school: A report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS2) (Report No. NCSER 2011-3005). Washington, DC: National Center for Special Education Research.
