A good mentor is hard to find: examining the frequency, depth and conditional effects of mentoring relationships in a faculty-in-residence program

Student-faculty interaction is thought to be an important factor in students’ engagement with their post-secondary institution, but the benefit to students usually correlates with the quality of the relationship. Faculty-in-residence programs have been championed as a way to encourage both intentional and casual out-of-the-classroom interactions between students and faculty. McGill University’s Faculty-Mentor-In-Residence program was designed to provide conditions for meaningful connections between students and faculty to take place, but the frequency and depth of interactions had not been evaluated. Using Cox and Orehovec’s (2007) typology of student-faculty interaction to analyze participant responses, this study sought to determine whether the program increased meaningful mentoring relationships, and for whom. Most participants interacted with faculty, but the students who formed the deepest relationships were white and cis-gendered, while students who hold systemically marginalized identities experienced more superficial interactions