This study examines how student scholars from first generation college and low income (FGLI) backgrounds and/or African American students perceive a research mentoring relationship. Using data compiled from oral interviews of thirty-three participants in the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program at Truman State University, this study has two purposes. First, in contrast to most of the literature that examines the mentoring relationship in collaborative undergraduate research, this study explicitly examines the perceptions of mentoring and research held by first generation college students and African American students at a primarily white/Caucasian institution. Second, the lessons learned from this inquiry may serve to better guide research programs in the process of mentor-student pairing that specifically target first generation college and other students from groups underrepresented in higher education. Results indicate that African American students participating in the McNair program, both FGLI and continuing generation, are much more likely than White FGLI students to emphasize the personal consideration role of mentors, psychological benefits from the research experience, and to describe a good mentor as someone who is personally supportive.