Asset or liability: exploring undergraduates’ perceptions of faculty-mentored research in Ghana

This paper explores students’ perceptions of faculty-mentored research by drawing on the experiences of final year undergraduates sampled from a public university in Ghana. Embedded in a qualitative approach, the paper employs the cognitive interest and expectancy value theories, which model interests and satisfaction as predictors of affection and/or disaffection for an activity respectively. From these theoretical viewpoints, the paper argues that the interest and utility derived from faculty-mentored research explain students’ perceptions of this writing activity. Following this premise, students’ perceptions of faculty-mentored research defy a single characterisation. The students’ perceptions of this writing activity straddle two polar perspectives. From one end of the polarity, the students perceived faculty-mentored research as an asset. As an asset, this writing activity facilitated the development and acquisition of skills and competencies relevant to career and academic progression. Besides, faculty-mentored research broadened participants’ understanding of social processes and phenomena. However, from the opposing end of the spectrum, faculty-mentored research is perceived as a liability since it exposed students to challenges that affect overall performance and well-being. The paper highlights how interests and perceived benefits affect students’ subjective views on the place of faculty-mentored research in undergraduate education. The emergence of these divergent perceptions amplifies the call for freedom in the choice of faculty-mentored research as a component of the undergraduate course structure.