The role of mentors in the lives of national merit scholars

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine whether a correlational relationship exists between a measure of independence/autonomy and use of mentors for academically gifted students. The subjects were 418 National Merit Scholars enrolled as undergraduates at a major southwestern university. The independence subscale of Wrightsman's Philosophy of Human Nature was used to obtain a measure of independence/autonomy for each scholar. The following null hypotheses were formulated: (1) There will be no differences in mean autonomy scores of scholars with or without a mentor. (2) There will be no differences in origin of mentors (i.e., family, school, or other) at 3 periods of time, the time periods being junior high, senior high, and college years. (3) There will be no differences in the number of scholars who do or do not have mentors. (4) There will be no differences in family demographics and the presence or absence of a mentor. The hypotheses of no differences in mean autonomy scores, origin of mentors, and family demographics were rejected; however, the hypothesis of no differences in number of scholars who do have mentors was not rejected. The majority of the scholars, (84%) did have at least one mentor during their school career. The lack of evidence to support the existence of a strong correlation between autonomy and the extent to which the academically gifted make use mentors may be due in part to the homogeneous sample, lack of clear understanding of the term mentor, or the tool used to measure autonomy. It is possible that such a relationship exists. In further research to determine if this is so, efforts to have a random sample of academically gifted students, and a more precise tool for measuring autonomy should be made. Other findings support previous research that the mentoring process is overwhelmingly accepted, and that as a result of early and consistent mentoring, more scholars received honors and awards.