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Open research questions in Mentoring and Academic Development

399 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 5,788 Mentoring and Academic Development papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Further research is needed to understand how AI can be used to democratize participation in high-level scientific tasks, - Research is needed to develop strategies for mitigating the risks associated with AI use

    Towards a research renaissance: Empowering early career researchers through mentored AI use · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in understanding how early-career tenure-track faculty of color navigate diversity ideologies at Historically White Research Universities. It notes that organizational studies often underemphasize the lived and felt dimensions of organizational phenomena. The paper aims to address this gap by examining the experiences of Faculty of Color and the tensions they produce.

    Diversity Ideologies and Racial Commodification: Navigating Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion as Early Career Faculty of Color Amid Organizational DEI Co-optation · 2026 · DOI

  • few studies have examined how both risk and protective factors concurrently play a role in mentoring outcomes, - the study only examined the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America mentoring program, - data were collected between2014 and 2018

    Exploring Profiles of Risk and Protective Factors Among Youth Mentees: For Whom Does Mentoring Work? · 2026 · DOI

  • Less is known about the role of protective factors in mentoring outcomes. Few studies have examined how both risk and protective factors concurrently play a role in mentoring outcomes. The study aims to address this gap by examining the profiles of risk factors and social support among youth participating in mentoring.

    Exploring Profiles of Risk and Protective Factors Among Youth Mentees: For Whom Does Mentoring Work? · 2026 · DOI

  • Although mother-scholars are under-researched subjects in mentorship literature, affective and identity-oriented mentoring has been recommended as a more promising avenue for supporting the retention and development of mother-scholars.

    Natality and the Scholarly Life: Motherhood, Mentorship, and Disorientation · 2026 · DOI

  • However, no studies have examined how these peer financial mentors (PFMs) are trained and professionally developed.

    “You’re not thrown to the wolves”: How College Peer Financial Mentors are Trained and Professionally Developed · 2026 · DOI

  • However, little is known about how PEM fellowships structure and deliver career development support.

    Career Development in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowships: A Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • However, limited research has explored its impact within culturally and linguistically diverse student populations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    Exploring peer tutoring experiences in improving nursing students’ academic success and performance: A qualitative study among Emirati undergraduate nursing students · 2025 · DOI

  • However, beyond functioning as communities of practice (CoPs) supporting socialisation processes, how mentoring integrates programme values and instils a shared identity amongst mentees remains unclear.

    A systematic scoping review of mentoring support on professional identity formation · 2024 · DOI

  • Yet, the mechanism in which it influences this process of professional identity formation (PIF) remains poorly understood.

    Peer mentorship and professional identity formation: an ecological systems perspective · 2024 · DOI

  • However, the factors that affect career progression in informal mentoring relationships, especially with respect to faculty members, have not been extensively explored.

    Exploring the factors affecting career progression in informal faculty mentoring sessions within mentor and mentee relationships: a qualitative study · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a lack of evidence generated from the health professions education institutions of global south regarding effectiveness of workshops in fostering mentorship culture.

    Building stronger foundations: exploring a collaborative faculty mentoring workshop for in-depth growth · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a lack of research on the impact of mentor networks on STEM undergraduate domain identity and well-being. Prior work has focused on dyadic faculty-mentored relationships rather than a broader, more holistic evaluation of a network of mentors.

    Quality over quantity: developmental mentor networks promote STEM undergraduate domain identity and well-being · 2026 · DOI

  • While the current study addresses a gap in broad men- tor network studies for STEM undergraduates, there are several limitations of the work that suggest directions for future work. First, the original intent of the longi- tudinal My College Pathways project was to analyze the personal-domain identity development of both majority and historically underrepresented groups in STEM. As such, the analytic sample consisted solely of White and Hispanic/Latino(a) undergraduates. The experiences of this sample should not be broadly applied to students from all racial/ethnic demographics; thus, future work should examine if similar patterns exist amongst stu- dents of different demographics. Additionally, at the time of data collection, the current study utilized traditional sex categories for participants and would benefit from a more inclusive representation of gender identity to assess potential differences based on gender identity. Further, literature suggests the important role of demographic and psychological similarity on mentoring relationships (Dasgupta & Stout, 2014; Hernandez et al., 2017; Peder- sen et al., 2024). Additional work should investigate the role of mentor network demographic and psychological match on downstream outcomes. Lastly, mentor network measures were only captured at one time point. Mentor networks are hypothesized to be dynamic, changing with the context and develop- ment of a mentee over time (Dobrow & Higgins, 2019). As such, future work could determine how the com- position of a student’s network shifts throughout vari- ous stages of their STEM undergraduate tenure and the downstream impact of these mentoring relationships on similar motivational outcomes (e.g., domain identity, per- sistence in STEM). Results of these studies might provide insight into the null findings of network composition and structure for this sample of students, and further inform the need to include structural components, rather than quality alone, in analyses. Finally, given the study design used ego-centric network analysis, the number of ques- tions asked to participants for each mentor nominated was limited to reduce response burden (see Table 2). This tradeoff was necessary when comparing the burden that would have been on respondents with the overwhelming number of items for each nomination.

    Quality over quantity: developmental mentor networks promote STEM undergraduate domain identity and well-being · 2026 · DOI

  • The survey instrument was not formally validated or pilot tested. The event was limited to 26 attendees due to venue capacity. The survey response rate was 10 out of 26 attendees.

    Exploring Perspectives on a Women in Medicine and Science Mentorship and Networking Event: A Pilot Quality Improvement Initiative at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson · 2026 · DOI

  • Women in medicine face barriers to mentorship and networking. There is a relative shortage of gender-specific programming within academic medical institutions.

    Exploring Perspectives on a Women in Medicine and Science Mentorship and Networking Event: A Pilot Quality Improvement Initiative at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson · 2026 · DOI

  • The study may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The results may not generalize to other populations or settings. The study had a limited sample size of 191 participants.

    The Effects of a Women’s Mentoring Workshop on Career Outcomes in Political Science · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could examine how the four principles operate across different higher education contexts. Longitudinal studies might explore whether mentoring relationships characterized by strong alignment and inclusive belonging predict persistence, identity development, academic productivity, or career adaptability over time.

    Reframing mentoring in higher education as a cooperative system: four principles for inclusive and sustainable development · 2026 · DOI

  • Existing mentoring theories remain fragmented and insufficiently integrated, particularly in explaining why mentoring initiatives yield uneven outcomes. The paper identifies a gap in the current understanding of mentoring, which is addressed by advancing a principle-based framework that conceptualizes mentoring as a cooperative system.

    Reframing mentoring in higher education as a cooperative system: four principles for inclusive and sustainable development · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the literature on mentoring practices in educational management and their effectiveness among regular faculty members. The study notes that there is a need to examine the impact of mentoring on leadership development and capacity building in higher education institutions.

    Mentoring Practices in Educational Management: Pathway to Leadership Development and Capacity Building · 2026 · DOI

  • Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, it is recommended that the university continuously strengthen mentoring practices through structured faculty development programs, leadership trainings, seminars, and professional learning opportunities related to educational management. A formal and sustainable mentoring system may also be institutionalized to ensure consistent implementation of mentoring practices in planning, organizing, leading, and evaluating across all academic units. Faculty development initiatives may place greater emphasis on enhancing competencies in strategic and evidence- based planning, leadership decision-making, conflict resolution, collaborative leadership, and reflective evaluation practices. Likewise, differentiated mentoring activities and leadership development programs may be provided according to academic rank and professional needs to support faculty members at various stages of professional growth and leadership experience. The university may further strengthen monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the effectiveness, accessibility, and sustainability of mentoring practices and faculty development initiatives. The utilization of digital platforms and information management systems may also improve mentoring communication, documentation, monitoring, and accessibility within the institution. Furthermore, the Proposed 5-Year Leadership Development and Capacity-Building Program on Mentoring Practices in Educational Management may be adopted and implemented to sustain and further enhance mentoring practices, leadership preparation, and professional growth among faculty members. Future researchers may also conduct related studies using additional variables, larger populations, and broader institutional settings to further validate and expand the findings of the study.

    Mentoring Practices in Educational Management: Pathway to Leadership Development and Capacity Building · 2026 · DOI

  • Several limitations constrain the interpretation of the study. First, the data are cross-sectional and self-reported, so causal inference is not warranted. Second, the study is based on one institution and one program design, which limits generalizability. Third, intention is not the same as subsequent mentor uptake or retention. Fourth, the de-identified archived evaluation extract did not retain age, gender, or exact survey dates, which restricted the sample description and prevented demographic controls. Fifth, the open-ended comments were brief and redesign-oriented; they offer useful program signals but not the depth of interview-based qualitative work. Future research could strengthen the evidence base by linking intention to later mentor participation, measuring fuller TPB constructs including subjective norms and self-efficacy, and testing targeted redesigns such as response-time protocols, smaller communication groups, or alternative workload pacing. A more detailed qualitative study could also distinguish between different kinds of pre-entry concerns—procedural, academic, and relational—and examine how these map onto willingness to mentor.

    Pre-entry Peer Mentoring and Mentor Intention: Mentoring Usefulness and Workload Feasibility · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to examine the quality of mentor-mentee meetings between business studies Pre-Service Teachers and their mentor teachers during teaching practice. There is a lack of understanding of the experiences of business studies PSTs on the quality of mentor-mentee meetings during teaching practice.

    Experiences of business studies pre-service teachers on the quality of mentor-mentee meetings during teaching practice · 2026 · DOI

  • University lecturers face barriers to successful academic writing, including limited familiarity with academic genres and lack of confidence. Institutions often lack formal mentoring policies and structures to support scholarly writing. -

    An examination of mentoring practices for university lecturers in scholarly writing · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the literature regarding the mentoring practices that support university lecturers in the development of scholarly writing skills. Prior studies have focused primarily on postgraduate students, with limited attention to the needs of university lecturers.

    An examination of mentoring practices for university lecturers in scholarly writing · 2026 · DOI

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399 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 5,788 Mentoring and Academic Development papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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