Abstract: Doctoral student attrition averages 57% across disciplines, with social sciences experiencing the highest at nearly 67% (Gardner, 2009), a rate consistent since the 1960s (Pauley et al., 1999). Delivery method also matters; residential doctoral programs average 20% lower attrition than programs with an online component (Rigler et al., 2017). Factors contributing to attrition include the chair-candidate relationship, socialization and support systems, candidate preparedness, and financial concerns (Pauley et al., 1999; Rigler et al., 2017). One strategy for addressing these factors is providing mentoring opportunities to students. Mentoring in higher education settings has been shown to reduce the effects of the mentored student’s anxiety about academic achievement and improve their grades (Webb et al., 2009), improve prospects for career advancement (Burke & McKeen, 1997; Higgins & Kram, 2001), support personal growth (Ehrich et al., 2004), and increase self-confidence (De Vries, 2005). Peer mentoring has been shown to impact students in areas that make their education successful, including GPA, credits, and retention and has been shown to create greater involvement with others in the program (Campbell & Campbell, 1997; Colvin & Ashman, 2010). Due to the individual nature of mentoring, it is a personalized process customized for the needs of each participant (Gipson et al., 2017). The combination of these benefits seems to indicate that there is the potential for student-to-student mentoring to have a positive influence in the context of a PhD program. In this study, purposeful sampling will be utilized to identify approximately 15 participants based on selection criteria (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Participants that currently or previously engaged in student-to-student mentoring in the Human Resource Development Ph.D. program at The University of Texas at Tyler will be considered. Demographic data will be collected from a survey to include age, race, gender, and educational background. Interviewing, both in-person and using Zoom video conferencing, will continue until diverse feedback is received to reach data saturation (Creswell & Poth, 2018). The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of student-to-student mentoring in hybrid Ph.D. programs. To explore this phenomenon, the following research questions will be considered: 1. How has student-to-student mentoring helped create opportunities for participants’ personal growth and development? 2. How has the student-to-student mentoring relationship developed participants’ self-confidence as a PhD student? 3. How would you describe the relationship within your student-to-student mentoring relationship? The research will be conducted using a phenomenological approach and data will be collected using semi-structured interviews. To that end, hermeneutical phenomenology will be used since it is best described as an approach that is oriented towards lived experiences and interprets the “text” of life (Creswell & Poth, 2018). A phenomenological approach allows researchers to understand the shared experiences of a specific group within their context. Creswell and Poth (2018) propose a simple and structured process for phenomenological research that involves seven stages: (a) identify and describe a phenomenon of interest to study, (b) distinguish and specify the broad philosophical assumptions of phenomenology, (c) collect data from the individuals who have experienced the phenomenon by using interviews, (d) generate themes from the analysis of significant statements, (e) develop textural and structural descriptions, (f) report the “essence” of the phenomenon by using composite descriptions, and (g) present the understanding of the essence of the experience in written form. Thematic analysis will be utilized to analyze the interview data, which is a process that recognizes, reports themes, and analyzes data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The five phases of conducting thematic analysis are: (1) preparing and organizing data, (2) transcribing data, (3) familiarizing one’s self with the data, (4) memoing the data, and (5) coding the data (Lester et al., 2020). Faculty assessment, participant feedback, and triangulation will be employed to validate this qualitative study. Member-checks of the transcripts with the interview participants will be utilized to confirm accuracy. Participants in student-to-student mentoring have anecdotally shared that their participation had a positive impact on their experience in the PhD program, and this study will help to create a rich understanding of their experiences. This student-student mentoring program has occurred for three years, and research will help uncover what makes the mentoring program successful and what purposeful instruction could be given to future mentoring groups to foster successful relationships. This research is still in progress and, once complete, will contribute to the existing literature on student-student mentoring in Ph.D. programs by focusing on creating an understanding of how relationships are built with other students and discover potential benefits from participation.
