Mentoring programs
Mentoring schemes have provided a focus for much research. It seems the schemes are common, and yet people are still interested to see what makes them work and what sorts of students are attracted to participate as mentees.
In research by Larose et al. (2009) a voluntary scheme was studied and, in particular, the personalities of the students who chose to participate as mentees were compared to the personalities of those who chose not to. (What might happen if the scheme was not voluntary was not discussed at all, but would be interesting to contemplate.) Key points from the study were that:
- Mentoring programs “are based on the premise that a stable relationship of trust, support and expertise leads to greater stress reliance and the promotion of personal skills. Program objectives are generally to enhance the social, academic and vocational integration of young people in their academic and/or professional settings”. (No surprises there.)
- It is important to note that “the proportion of students who voluntarily agree to participate remains relatively modest, especially among higher-risk groups”. (Interesting.)
- Previous work cited by Larose et al. suggests that “individuals who decide to participate in mentoring may present distinctive personal and social support profiles compared to those who do not wish to engage in the mentoring experience”.
- The mentoring program under review involved 16 hours of formal meetings – one every 2 weeks.
- Of the total intake of 480 students, 150 volunteered to be mentored. Of those who declined, 168 offered to undergo the same personality/circumstances test that the volunteers were doing.
- Results from the test indicated that students who volunteered to be mentored “displayed more openness and agreeableness than those who declined … They also had more positive attitudes toward help-seeking from peers and teachers, displayed more intrinsic motivation and perceived more support from their peers. Moreover, these same students had a greater fear of failure and test anxiety and had poorer, less educated mothers.”
- It was found that “academic mentoring is more attractive for some students than others depending on their personality, help-seeking attitudes, academic dispositions, perceived support from friends and support available during the transition to college”.
- A key finding, and one that is not entirely unexpected, was that “mentee motivation is an essential condition for effective mentoring”.
Larose, S.; Cyrenne, D.; Garceau, O.; Harvey, M.; Guay, F. and Deschenes, C. (2009) Personal and Social Support Factors Involved in Students’ Decision to Participate in Formal Academic Mentoring. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 108-116.
