Making Mentoring Work: A Case Study of the Intersections of Peer Mentoring at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)

Abstract

First year, university transfer students experience challenges typically addressed with mentoring. Peer mentoring provides a culturally relevant approach to reduce disparities in educational achievements. This study seeks to understand the experiences of peer mentors and the impact on their relationships with first-year transfer students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution. Using a case study approach, our research finds that peer mentors were ill-equipped to handle challenges associated with having a transfer student mentee. Our findings suggest training requires improvement and better consideration of peer mentor-mentee pairings with due to the dynamic issues caused by incongruency in age or gender, lack of relatability to or lack of proper knowledge for mentees with backgrounds differing the mentors, and mentors experiencing imposter syndrome.