Development and Initial Validation of the Research Mentoring Context Scale for Undergraduate Research: A Hierarchical Two-Dimensional Measurement Model

Undergraduate research mentoring is a vital factor in how students engage with their scholarly work. This area presents a gap, as it has not been measured thoroughly, especially in developing higher education contexts. To address this, the present study set out to develop and conduct an initial validation of the Research Mentoring Context Scale (RMCS), drawing on the tenets of both Relational Mentoring Theory and Social Cognitive Theory. Using a cross-sectional instrument development design, data from 453 undergraduates were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The results showed a hierarchical two-factor structure that captures positive and negative mentoring environments, with acceptable evidence of reliability, content, and structural validity. The RMCS provides a theoretically grounded tool for assessing mentoring conditions and informing institutional strategies to strengthen undergraduate research development and supervision practices.