2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Pre-college students in engineering pathways often excel technically but lack clarity of purpose, identity formation, and ownership of learning–gaps that eventually contribute to disengagement and attrition. Research in adolescent development and self-efficacy theory highlights the importance of purpose and agency in sustaining motivation, yet few pre-college engineering initiatives systematically integrate these elements into mentorship models. This paper introduces a student-centered and evidence-based system informed by self-efficacy theory and grounded in positive psychology. Unlike typical skills-based programs, The Mentorship Method (established over the past eight years at a woman-owned organization) embeds purpose development as a measurable construct and comprises six principles—narrative over numbers, purpose as compass, iterative reflection, learning ownership, scholar–mentor partnership, and supported growth—that together provide a foundation for academic exploration.

The Mentorship Method (TMM) is presented with a literature review grounding its six principles in foundational and current research. Using an exploratory multimethod approach, we analyze pre- and post-mentorship survey data alongside qualitative student reflections from 246 structured mentorships pairing pre-college students with university research faculty. Originated and verified through sequential mixed-methods and incorporating the Claremont Purpose Scale, our surveys assess clarity of academic goals, ownership of learning, and confidence in problem-solving, while open-ended responses capture evolving interests, strengths, career plans, and motivations.

Findings indicate the TMM-structured approach fosters significant gains in self-efficacy and purpose development, particularly around societal contribution with ethical awareness, curiosity, and alignment between personal purpose and academic pursuits. Further analysis illustrates how student-informed mentorships guide students’ development purpose and self-efficacy across engineering fields, ranging broadly from biomedical engineering, renewable energy, to systems design. Results suggest that TMM offers a scalable pathway for cultivating self-efficacy and purpose among pre-college students. When focusing solely on engineering mentorships, findings remain consistent, suggesting that our system successfully nurtures a learning identity with potential applications to engineering identity. Future work will explore TMM’s impact on pre-college engineering identity development, offering the potential to extend Godwin’s framework beyond college-level engineering identity.