Development and psychometric analyses of a mentee competency self-assessment (MCSA) tool

This paper presents the development and psychometric analyses of the Mentee Competency Self-Assessment (MCSA), a tool designed to evaluate mentee skills in research mentoring relationships and assess the Mentoring Up curriculum. By assessing mentee competencies across diverse settings, the study aims to enhance understanding of mentoring dynamics and highlight the importance of considering both mentor and mentee perspectives in assessing mentorship effectiveness.

The 26-item MCSA instrument was developed based on the validated Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) to evaluate the Mentoring Up curriculum. Data was obtained from 401 mentees who attended Mentoring Up workshops between 2015 and 2022. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed with varimax rotation to examine the internal structure of the MCSA. A team of mentoring experts independently reviewed and reached consensus on component alignment. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and internal consistency were performed to assess construct validity and reliability.

Factor and reliability analyses support an eight-component structure of a 22-item MCSA. All parameter estimates were significant, and the components demonstrated acceptable to high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.58-0.90).

The final 22-item scale (MCSA-22) aligns with eight competencies and is now suited for measuring mentee mentorship skills. Given the modest sample size and other study limitations, replication of this proposed modification of the MCSA is an important next step. Additional recommendations for future scale development are offered.