- Collection:
- Morehouse Faculty Publications
- Title:
- Investigating the Influence of Mentor-Mentee Race and Gender Pairs on Public Health Persistence
- Creator:
- Trawick, Cynthia, Morehouse College
Haynes, John, Morehouse College
Monroe-White, Thema, Berry College
Joseph, Michael, SUNY Downstate School of Public Health
Campbell Tolbert, NyThea, Morehouse College
Tola, Jigsa, Morehouse College - Date of Original:
- 2021-12-01
- Subject:
- Morehouse College (Atlanta, Ga.)--Faculty
African American scholars
African Americans--Education (Higher)--Georgia - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
- Medium:
- articles
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- Background. Mentoring and immersive experiences through internships are important means of increasing underrepresented (UR) students' persistence in public health. However, while the positive effects of mentoring are well established, studies on the effect of race/ethnicity and gender mentor matching on persistence have produced mixed results. Aims. This article investigates the impact of homogeneous and heterogeneous mentor-mentee pairs on UR intern persistence for Project Imhotep, a summer internship program at Morehouse College. Method. The authors employ multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine the relationship between mentor and mentee race/ethnicity and gender characteristics on undergraduate intern academic persistence and career attainment. Results. Mentor demographics and institution type are predictors associated with intern academic and career persistence; however, the predictive importance of model attributes varied by outcome. Mentees paired with UR mentors (female or male) were more likely to attend graduate school, and mentees mentored by female mentors (UR female or White female) were more likely to pursue a graduate degree in public health. Finally, mentees mentored by UR females had the highest likelihood of either pursuing a graduate degree in public health or a public health career. Discussion. This article advances our understanding of how mentor-mentee race/ethnicity and gender affects the recruitment and retention of undergraduate students from racially and ethnically UR populations into public health. Conclusions. The findings suggest that the degree of shared racial/ethnic and/or gender identity between a public health intern and mentor influenced the likelihood of the intern pursuing further education or a public health career.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/mc.ir.fac.pub:2022_trawick_cynthia_haynes_john
- Rights Holder:
- Morehouse College
- Original Collection:
- Pedagogy in Health Promotion
- Holding Institution:
- Morehouse College (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Rights:
-
