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

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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