In the United States, undergraduate underrepresented minority (URM) students tend to change out of declared majors in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines at a rate of nearly sixty percent prior to earning a post secondary degree. This phenomenon contributes to a general concern that the United States is not producing enough STEM trained skilled workers to meet future employment needs of industry and government. Although there has been research developed to examine how to increase the numbers of URM students enrolling in STEM programs at higher education institutions, retention of these students remains critical. One area of increasing focus for researchers is to understand how multiple factors impact the college experience of URM students and how those factors may contribute to the student decision to persist in earning a STEM disciple degree. This research study is a phenomenological mixed method study that examines how students experience the phenomenon of advising and the influence of the advising experience of undergraduate URM students on their likelihood of persisting in STEM at a northeast US technology oriented post secondary institution. Persistence, from the perspective of the student, is driven by cognitive psychological attributes such as confidence, motivation and self-efficacy. Utilizing a Social Cognitive theoretical framework, this study examines how three distinct undergraduate URM student populations enrolled in; an Academic Services Program, Honors College, and the general undergraduate population at this institution experience advising and how their experiences may influence their propensity to persist in earning a STEM oriented degree. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]