"We're All for the Same Mission": Faculty Mentoring Native Hawaiian Undergraduates in STEM Research

Based on Vygotsky's (1978) Sociocultural Theory, this multicase study explored the ways in which engagement in mentored research activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) influenced the academic and professional aspirations of five Native Hawaiian undergraduate mentees and their persistence in higher education. The students' faculty mentors were both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian. In-depth interviews with mentees and mentors, observations of mentoring interactions, and document analysis indicated that providing mentees with hands-on activities to work on individual research projects in collaborative settings fostered students' research mastery and independent critical thinking. Many of the faculty mentors used their knowledge of Hawaiian culture and communities to inform their mentoring practices. Community-engaged research activities that focused on Hawai'i and the needs of and collaboration with Hawaiian communities provided opportunities for students to give back to communities and fostered the mentees' senses of purpose. Being able to serve and protect communities, while simultaneously bringing forth Hawaiian culture in higher education and society more broadly motivated students to pursue graduate education and scientific careers.