Speaking our Culture into Existence: A Successful Application of the Stewardship Model

Academic research teams are often homogenous units that include few undergraduate students. We argue that this is in part due to the perception that it is difficult to mentor students who are different from the principal investigator. The Stewardship Model of Mentoring offers a framework that highlights the complementary goals of mentorship and research. The current paper describes how the Stewardship Model was applied in a behavioral health science lab and includes research assistants' perspectives on the approach. Overall, students found that lab leaders were successful in achieving (1) targeted recruitment, (2) technical training, (3) applied research experience, (4) multilevel mentorship, and (5) membership in a carefully constructed learning community. Onboarding and communication were consistently noted areas of growth.