Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
4-2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Jackie Halstead
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Scott Strawn
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Mary Christopher
Abstract
The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological analysis was to explore the lived experiences of students and faculty engaged in mutually beneficial mentoring relationships at Christian universities. A dearth of current research focused on the experiences of emerging adults and on the benefits to mentors in a Christian context prompted this inquiry. Semi-structured interviews were completed virtually with two mentor-mentee dyads, while data analysis included use of qualitative research software as well as original phenomenological reduction and interpretation. Findings provided insights not only into the meaning student mentees ascribed to mentoring but also into the perceptions of faculty mentors. Despite different mentoring circumstances, the participants’ accounts revealed a shared experience of mentoring as a worthwhile and mutually beneficial endeavor that deepens spirituality, develops identity, and fulfills vocational goals. Attempting to uncover the phenomenological essence of participants’ expressions, the researcher found that mentoring may be likened to Christian discipleship and even to an expression of agape love.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hansen, Alessandra Brohmer, "The Reciprocity of Mentorship: Impacting Christian Higher Education" (2021). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 328.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/328