Nurturing Natural Mentoring in Higher Education for Student Success
Forming on-campus connections and receiving natural mentoring are essential aspects of the college experience, particularly for students of color and transfer students. These connections can be transformative, offering valuable support and guidance as students navigate the complexities of higher education (Monjaras-Gaytan & Sanchez, 2023). For students of color, finding a sense of belonging on campus is often crucial to their overall success and well-being. By connecting with peers, faculty, and staff who share their backgrounds or have a deep understanding of their unique challenges, these students can gain a support network that empowers them to overcome obstacles and thrive academically. Similarly, transfer students, who are often adjusting to a new environment, benefit greatly from forming connections that help them acclimate to their new academic home. Natural mentoring relationships can provide insights, encouragement, and a sense of community that fosters personal and academic growth. In this way, the importance of on-campus connections and natural mentoring cannot be overstated, as they can significantly enhance the college journey for students from diverse backgrounds. Although the importance of on-campus connections and natural mentoring has been highlighted in research, it’s essential to question what higher education institutions are actively doing to foster these relationships and what approaches might be designed and implemented to support the development of natural mentoring relationships for more students.
Some creative interventions have explored ways of facilitating the formation of natural mentoring relationships among college students and younger adolescents. For example, The Connected Scholars Program, targets high school and college students to develop skills that will help them acquire mentors. The program empowers students to grasp the significance of building their social capital and offers hands-on experience in cultivating meaningful relationships, including finding mentors who can help shape their journey. The program has been successful in helping students expand their social networks and fostering supportive relationships with faculty and college staff, ultimately having a positive impact on their college adjustment. But it’s not just about helping students form skills to develop mentoring relationships; it’s also about working to develop a pool of potential mentors. The Mentoring Partnership, a MENTOR affiliate in Pittsburgh, is making waves by zeroing in on potential mentors. Their Everyday Mentoring program targets adults who are interested in positioning themselves to be better mentors. Adults are provided tips on how to positively impact all the youth and young adults in their lives through the Everyday Mentoring trainings and toolkit. Similarly, administrators in higher education can adopt initiatives that reshape institutional agents into mentors. A third intervention that targets both mentees and mentors is Noelle Hurd’s Project DREAM (Developing Resourcefulness, Engagement, Acceptance, and Mentoring) – an afterschool intervention for youth aimed at fostering supportive relationships between adolescents and nonparental adults in their everyday lives. In Project DREAM, youth are trained how to find potential mentors in their network and adults are trained to provide appropriately responsive support. In other words, Project DREAM provides structure for youth to form a natural mentoring relationship with an adult in their network. Embracing the reciprocal nature of mentoring, colleges can leverage insights from Project DREAM to create interventions targeting both students and the supportive individuals in their network. For higher education administrators and anyone interested in nurturing mentor relationships, these programs may serve as a blueprint. They provide the structured framework needed to bring together potential mentees and mentors, promoting on-campus connections and natural mentoring.
Resources:
Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., & Sánchez, B. (2023). Historically underrepresented college students and natural mentoring relationships: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 106965.
Hurd, N. M., & Billingsley, J. (2023). Project DREAM: Iterative development of an afterschool program with an emphasis on youth–adult relationships. American Journal of Community Psychology. 10.1002/ajcp.12701.
Schwartz, S. E., Kanchewa, S. S., Rhodes, J. E., Gowdy, G., Stark, A. M., Horn, J. P., … & Spencer, R. (2018). “I’m having a little struggle with this, can you help me out?”: Examining impacts and processes of a social capital intervention for first‐generation college students. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61(1-2), 166-178.
https://www.mentoringpittsburgh.org/pages/everyday-mentoring