Relationships and Identity in Mentoring: A Mixed Methods Approach Examining Relationship Quality, Mentors' Report of Identity, and Identity Training

The purpose of the dissertation is to examine mentoring relationship quality both generally and specifically with respect to identity, by increasing understanding of mentors’ perception of how identity impacts the relationship and of how programs implement identity-specific trainings. This dissertation uses a mixed methods approach to capture the complexities of relationship quality and identity in mentoring. First, a quantitative study lays the groundwork by examining relationship quality more broadly, analyzing how both mentor- and mentee-report of relationship quality are associated with academic and behavioral outcomes for mentees. Then, the dissertation utilizes qualitative data to better understand mentors’ conceptualizations of, beliefs about, and behaviors associated with identity. Finally, the dissertation conducts a systematic review of studies implementing identity-specific mentoring interventions for historically marginalized adolescents, with the goal of providing the field with concrete recommendations for both research and practice related to identity-specific mentoring interventions.