Graduate Student Peer Mentoring Programs: Benefitting Students, Faculty and Academic Programs

摘要

Peer mentoring—students mentoring other students—is an area of increasing interest for scholars and administrators of graduate education. The range of activities that constitute peer mentoring is vast, but includes providing insights into the departmental culture, guidance through major program milestones, psychosocial support, and friendship (Kram and Isabella 1985; Grant-Vallone and Ensher 2000). While most students are assigned a faculty advisor or mentor, the perspectives of peer mentors who may be only a year or two ahead of the mentee are valuable in different but powerful ways (Kram and Isabella 1985). While it is most common to talk about peer mentors helping new students adapt to a graduate program, peer mentees and mentors both can benefit from the mentoring relationship by co-presenting at conferences, forming study groups, or co-authoring articles. These other models of co-mentoring and group support are increasingly recognized alongside one-on-one peer mentoring as supportive of student retention, satisfaction, and success in graduate studies (Allen, McManus, and Russell 1999; McGuire and Reger 2003).