The Role of Service-Learning and Mentoring in the Early Career Development of a Research Methodologist

Authors

Cheryl H. Keen, Walden UniversityFollow
Heather Pease, Loyola University ChicagoFollow

Abstract

Anxiety about statistics may impede new scholars from developing quantitative research skills and from sharing those skills in service-learning, internship, and work settings. Using an interpretive case study design with a convenience sample of one emerging student leader in a collaborative university-community service-learning research project, we explored the question “How did the career path of a quantitatively skilled researcher develop?” Data collected over a 3-and-a-half-year period included 7 semi-structured interviews with the student during her master’s and doctoral program and interviews with 3 mentors, 2 peers, and 2 community partners, as well as observations and documents. A constant comparison analysis method identified emerging themes: the role of mentors in building skills, building trust, and modeling risk taking. The results suggest strategies for increasing the number of new researchers who can bring quantitative research skills and career readiness to their respective fields.

Keywords

Doctoral Mentoring, Service-Learning, Career Development, Research Efficacy, Statistics Anxiety

Author Bio(s)

Cheryl Keen is a core faculty member in Walden University's Division of Higher Education, Adult Learning, Administration and Leadership at the Richard W. Riley College of Education & Leadership. She is co-author of Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World (Beacon Press, 1996). Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Cheryl H. Keen at, Cheryl.keen@waldenu.edu.

Heather A. Pease is a PhD candidate at Loyola University Chicago's education program. Her dissertation will focus on IRB processes. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: Heather Pease at, heather.pease@outlook.com.

Publication Date

1-25-2016

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2475

Recommended APA Citation

Keen, C. H., & Pease, H. (2016). The Role of Service-Learning and Mentoring in the Early Career Development of a Research Methodologist. The Qualitative Report, 21(1), 117-126. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2475