Article Published In Vol.9 (July-Aug 2021)

The Role of High-Quality Relationship in Peer Mentoring

Author : Fola Michael Ayokanmbi

Student mentoring is a key element in providing direction to first-year students and enabling their transition and acclimatization to higher education and a new identity as students, thus, enhancing their potential for success. A mentoring program provides a supportive environment to enhance the experience of both the mentor and the mentee and improve student retention, persistence, and success. The success of a peer mentoring relationship will depend on the quality of the interaction between the mentor and the mentee. The interactions, relationships, and connections must provide an opportunity for the mentor and the mentee to learn from each other and led to high-quality outcomes for both parties. This paper proposes a conceptual high-quality mentoring framework to ensure that students are well-positioned to successfully pursue disciplines and careers. The proposed peer mentoring approach involves a relationship between a more experienced higher-level student and a lower-level student, whereby the mentor provides the mentee with information about academics, co-curricular activities, student organizations and involvement, and other support programs. Hence, this approach is expected to enhance the experience of both the mentor and the mentee and motivate STEM students to be persistent and successful as STEM students and professionals. 

Keywords: Mentoring, Student Success, Academic Engagement, College Completion, Retention