Engaging undergraduate students in authentic research is a powerful pedagogical tool for undergraduate education. The key to maximizing the benefit of research experiences is a proper mentoring relationship. Here, we present the findings of international chemistry and biology undergraduate research experiences studied via a critical qualitative methodology to understand the cross-cultural mentoring relationship. This study demonstrates that mentors and students came into a mentoring relationship with different sets of normative infrastructures, which entail their assumptions about the purposes, values, and beliefs of undergraduate research. Their normative infrastructures came from their cultural backgrounds and prior scientific training. Positive experiences of participants are attributed to the inherent characteristics of students, mentors, or the program as well as aligned settings. On the other hand, negative experiences are associated with misaligned settings. We propose that understanding mentoring relationships may uncover new ideas to improve mentors' and students' experiences within undergraduate scientific research.