Entries by Emily.Buss001@umb.edu

Jean Rhodes Talks Mentorship and AI on LearningWell Radio

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Can artificial intelligence strengthen mentoring rather than weaken it? In a new episode of LearningWell Radio, Jean Rhodes, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston and director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring, joins reporter Mollie Ames to discuss college mentoring and its future in the age of AI. In this episode, listeners […]

New Study Shows How Mentors Can Promote Belonging in College

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By Jean Rhodes What happens to students’ mentoring relationships after they arrive on campus? In a new study, Aaliyah Anderson, Noelle Hurd, and their colleagues followed 340 underrepresented students at a predominantly White university, asking about their natural mentoring relationships throughout college and assessing their highest completed degree six years after their senior year (Anderson […]

Professors Who Share Students’ Identities Help Turn Awareness into Action

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Gómez, R. F., Bañales, J., & Romero, A. (2026). Cultivating critical consciousness in higher education: Mentoring, validation, and sociopolitical development among college students. The Urban Review, 58, Article 78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-026-00855-y Main takeaways Undergraduates who score high on critical consciousness, the capacity to analyze structural inequality and act against it, take more sociopolitical courses and earn […]

The Power of Peer Influence: New Findings on When Student Leaders Change Behavior and When They Don’t

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Veenstra, R. (2026). Harnessing peer influence: A summary and synthesis of social network and peer-led intervention research. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 50(2), 272–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254251331201 Introduction Adolescent well-being has declined, and adult-led programs lose traction as teenagers turn away from teachers. Anti-bullying programs, for example, work less well in secondary school than in primary school […]

The AI Buddy Students Actually Asked For

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By Jean Rhodes What do college students want from an AI companion? When researchers at the University of Zurich surveyed nearly 1,000 students about a hypothetical “AI Buddy,” the most popular answers had nothing to do with friendship. Most (78%) just wanted an editor and proofreader, about 69% wanted help managing references, and 59% wanted […]

National Mentoring Day Is On October 27

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Looking for a reason to thank a mentor, or to become one? National Mentoring Day falls on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The day began in the United Kingdom, was first observed in 2015, and is now marked around the world as a time to recognize mentors and the programs that support them. Organizers encourage mentors […]

Commentary: Mentoring for Transformative Resilience

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Long, Z. (2026). Mentoring in academia for transformative resilience. Journal of Applied Communication Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2026.2730259 Main takeaways Research funding is being cut, academic freedom is under pressure, and faculty are exhausted. Ziyu Long, an organizational communication scholar at Colorado State University, argues that in this climate mentoring must do more than move […]

Reaching the Unreachable: New Chicago Findings Show Lasting Drop in Youth Violence

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Abdul-Razzak, N., Domash, B., Hallberg, K., & Pinto Poehls, C. (2026). Long-term impacts of youth mentoring and therapy: Experimental evidence from Chicago. Journal of Public Economics, 263, 105771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2026.105771 Introduction Even one juvenile arrest can derail a young person’s schooling, mental health, and future earnings. Yet the youth at greatest risk are often the hardest […]

New Findings Link Brief Self-Hypnosis Training to Lower Anxiety Among Thesis Writers

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Luqmanasari, E., & Darmayanti, R. (2026). Modified self-hypnosis mentoring to reduce thesis-related anxiety among final-year students. Journal of Community Engagement in Health, 9(2), 376–382. https://doi.org/10.30994/jceh.v9i2.843 Introduction For many undergraduates, the thesis is the most stressful stretch of their degree. It demands independence, time management, and critical thinking that regular coursework rarely requires. The authors list […]

“I Might Bother My Mentor”: New Study Shows Why Peer Mentoring Needs Structure, Not Just Goodwill

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Surti, A., Arain, F., Akbar, R., & Rehman, R. (2026). Learning from each other: A qualitative exploration of students’ experience in peer mentoring. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 42(10), 2776–2781. https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.42.10.14862 Introduction Aga Khan University’s MPhil in Biological and Biomedical Sciences admits students from medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and many science degrees. It spends […]