Fuentes, M. V., Alvarado, A. R., Berdan, J., & DeAngelo, L. (2014). Mentorship matters: Does early faculty contact lead to quality faculty interaction?. Research in Higher Education, 55(3), 288-307.

This study seeks to understand the factors that contribute to a type of student–faculty interaction known to have particular benefits for students, faculty mentorship. Using three-time-point data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, this study employed structural equation modeling to investigate the relationship between contact and communication with faculty in the first year of college and faculty mentorship in the senior year. Results suggest that early interaction with faculty serves as a socialization process in college that leads students to have more meaningful interactions with faculty later in college, in the form of mentorship. The study extends the field’s understanding of faculty mentorship and offers important implications for institutional practices.