| Although the proportion of women in postsecondary education is noticeably greater than the proportion of men, the proportion of women pursuing STEM degrees continues to lag behind that of men (Holland, Major, & Orvis, 2011). Many studies on barriers for female students in STEM attribute having a mentor as a positive influence in breaking these barriers down. Beneficial outcomes have been shown to cover diverse areas. What is not as commonly studied is the value of having a peer mentor in the success of these students. Even more atypical, is to study impact on the peer serving in the mentoring role, especially female peer mentors in the STEM disciplines (Lockie & Van Lanen, 2008).;My research examined the experiences of women in STEM majors taking on high levels of leadership in mentoring and teaching, who I referred to as peer instructors. The focus was on the social-cognitive psychological paradigm, seeking to gain information on influences of peers, models, and culture within majors on the four sources of the construct of academic self-efficacy: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasions, and physiological and emotional responses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 12 participants representing multiple academic peer support programs at one urban research institution. Merriam's (2009) basic qualitative study design was employed to examine "1) how people interpret their experiences, 2) how they construct their worlds, and 3) what meaning they attribute to their experiences" (p. 23).;Participants provided many examples of how their self-efficacy toward their STEM domain, and in turn, their persistence and success in the disciplinary program, was positively influenced by their peer instructor experience. Time spent in the position resulted in mastery of the role in multiple areas; models were highly influential in the faculty, staff, and peers they interacted with because of their role; positive messaging from external sources changed negative self-perceptions of abilities and gave them drive to persist and achieve even more success in their domain; and physiological and emotional states regarding how they judged their own skills and abilities were positively influenced by each source. |
