Strategies for monitoring mentoring relationship quality to predict early program dropout

Abstract

We examined data from a nationally implemented mentoring program over a 4‐year period, to identify demographic and relationship characteristics associated with premature termination. Data were drawn from a sample of 82,224 mentor and mentees. We found matches who reported shared racial or ethnic identities were associated with lower likelihood of premature termination as was mentee's positive feelings of the relationship. We also found that, if data were used as a screening tool, the data were suboptimal for accuracy classifying premature closure with sensitivity and specificity values equal to 0.43 and 0.75. As programs and policymakers consider ways to improve the impact of mentoring programs, these results suggest programs consider the types of data being collected to improve impact of care.

Social acceptance from peers and youth mentoring: Implications for addressing loneliness and social isolation

“…The analysis used four categorical variables: "I usually decide how we'll spend our time together" (mentor), "My Little usually decides how we'll spend our time together" (mentee), "I get ideas from my Little then we decide together" (mutual), "The agency case manager outlines how we will spend our time together" and "Someone else (like a teacher or parent) decides how we'll spend our time together" (other). SoR scale supports its psychometric validity (Rhodes et al, 2017), consistency across time points (Lyons et al, 2021), and invariance by race and ethnicity (Lyons & Edwards, 2022).…”

“…All mentees in the sample reported data on the youth SoR at least once during their mentoring match at a time determined by their local program agency. Prior research on the SoR scale supports its psychometric validity (Rhodes et al, 2017), consistency across time points (Lyons et al, 2021), and invariance by race and ethnicity (Lyons & Edwards, 2022).…”

“…The association between negative feelings in the mentoring relationship and negative indicators of social acceptance imply additional challenges for nonspecific approaches to mentoring to that seek to support lonely and socially isolated youth. Specifically, such youth appear more likely to experience the negative feelings in mentoring relationships that are associated with decreased relationship length (Rhodes et al, 2017; Lyons & Edwards, 2022) and potentially iatrogenic effects (Lyons & McQuillin, 2019). Moreover, the lack of association in our study between the positive SoR subscale and decreased negative indicators of social acceptance suggests that, for youth with poor pre‐existing relationships, positive feelings in the mentoring relationship alone may not be a sufficient “corrective experience” to modify mentee's working models of their peer relationships (Rhodes, 2005).…”

Advancing understanding of discordant mentoring relationships in STEMM: A method and framework

“…Thus, past experience with mentor training could be included in the "Other Mentoring Relationship Characteristics," as could the length of the relationship, frequency of the mentor−mentee communication, and mode of mentoring (virtual vs. face-to-face), as these factors impact mentees' outcomes. 16,[72][73][74][75][76] Third, the framework calls for longitudinal studies to explore the role of mentor−mentee discordance over "Time." It might be that during earlier stages of development, such as during a student's undergraduate years, having a more concordant mentor (i.e., the mirror effect) is more important for students from underrepresented backgrounds, whereas at later stages (e.g., during graduate school), they might benefit more from a discordant mentor who opens important doors (i.e., the window effect).…”

MatricS—A novel tool for monitoring professional role development in surgical disciplines

“…This offers mentees and mentors the chance to tailor their mentoring relation to the individual needs of the mentee as theses needs become apparent during the program. Because of the individual personality differences of both mentees and mentors and their interactions, it is challenging to monitor the individual development process of each mentee in a structured way (17). Although some tools already exist for this purpose (18), their use is often mentor-based and/or resource-intensive, and these tools generally cannot meet the demands of senior surgeons and their schedules.…”