Peer mentorship: exploring the unmet needs of current mentees during Covid-19

Abstract

Peer mentorship is a mutually beneficial relationship that allows two individuals who are at approximately the same experience level to interact with one another with the goal of providing personal, professional, or both types of support. It has been found that peer mentorship within academic settings have generally positive retention, persistence, and student experience outcomes for both mentors and mentees. While peer mentoring research and initiatives are growing, very few instances exist of determining student perceived needs regarding peer mentorship. As such, at a western institution in the United States, students were surveyed to self-report their perceived peer mentorship needs. This survey occurred during Fall 2021, just after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of 223 participants, 79 students indicated that they currently had a peer mentor at the time the survey was administered. Students were given both a definition and examples of peer mentorship before indicating they had a peer mentor. Their mentors may have been formally assigned through an existing program at the college of engineering of interest or informally obtained through their own efforts. These 79 participants were asked what additional support they wish their peer mentor could provide. Through phenomenological analysis of open-ended responses, common avenues for additional support were determined. These findings allowed for development of recommendations for shaping the future implementation of more targeted and beneficial peer mentoring initiatives. The recommendations include providing flexibility in peer mentorship, training on resources and events, and a variety of peer mentoring opportunities early and consistently.

What Makes an Effective Peer Mentor? Perceptions of Undergraduate Engineering Students During COVID-19

“…It should be noted that the first author of this publication attended the institution of interest and was part of both the undergraduate and graduate engineering student populations. As summarized in previous publications [21]- [23], this placed her as an insider [24] who had personal experiences in various roles throughout the College of Engineering of interest. However, as this author has transitioned roles to a different institution, she considers that her role is in transition to that of an outsider [24].…”

“…The following sections describe the methods used to conduct this research, which are similar to the methods employed and cited in the associated dissertation and follow-up studies [21]- [23]…”

“…In the original study [21], analysis was conducted on only two of the eight qualitative questions. As of now, those two qualitative questions have been re-explored from a different perspective [23] and one additional qualitative question has been analyzed [22].…”

“…The demographic information for the 79 participants as well as the entire 223 participants is shown in Table 1. [21], [22]. [21].…”

“…The focus of this current analysis, which parallels similar studies conducted after the original study [22], [23], was to delve into one of the unexplored qualitative questions: "What makes your peer mentor an effective peer mentor to you?". Responses to this question were given by the 79 students who indicated they currently had a peer mentor.…”