Jean Rhodes – Page 3 – The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring

About Jean Rhodes

Dr. Rhodes is the Frank L. Boyden Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has devoted her career to understanding and advancing the role of intergenerational relationships in the intellectual, social, educational, and career development of youth. She has published three books, four edited volumes, and over 100 chapters and peer-reviewed articles on topics related to positive youth development, the transition to adulthood, and mentoring. Dr. Rhodes is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research and Community Action, and was a Distinguished Fellow of the William T. Grant Foundation. She has been awarded many campus-wide teaching awards for her advances in pedagogy and scholarship, including the Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Scholar Award, the Student Government Outstanding Teacher Award, and the Chancellor’s Outstanding Scholar award at UMB.

Entries by Jean Rhodes

The Flipside of Microaggressions: How Micro-Recognitions Change Everything in Mentoring

March 26, 2026/in Editors Blog/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes When Professor Becky Wai-Ling Packard joined the Center today for a webinar, we knew we were in for something good. What we did not anticipate was the sheer volume of interest. Over 500 attendees, nearly 70 comments and questions flooding the chat, and a palpable sense that she had touched something many […]

The Gift Goes Both Ways: What a New Meta-Analysis Reveals About Purpose, Meaning, and Older Adult Mentors

March 24, 2026/in Editors Blog/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes The mentoring field has long understood the value of volunteer programs primarily through the lens of what young people receive. That framing is not wrong, but a new meta-analysis preprint by Boreham, O’Gorman, and Bailey (2026) offers a compelling complement to it. The study suggests that mentoring may be one of the […]

No One Should Leave Empty-Handed: Single-Session Approaches for Youth on Waitlists

March 12, 2026/in Editors Blog/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes When a young person and their family reach out to a mentoring program, they are at a peak moment of motivation and readiness. Something has prompted them to ask for help. It might be a struggle at school, a difficult transition, or a parent’s growing worry. Whatever the reason, that window of […]

Undergraduate career mentoring: Social mobility panacea or ethical dilemma?

March 12, 2026/in Culture and Context, Mentoring Practice/by Jean Rhodes

Lyden, T. (2026). Undergraduate career mentoring: Social mobility panacea or ethical dilemma? International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-12-2024-0135 By Jean Rhodes Most people working in higher education mentoring operate from a simple premise. Connecting undergraduates with employers and professionals helps them navigate a labor market and build social capital. It is hard […]

New study highlights the need to consider mentees’ risks and protective factors

March 11, 2026/in Culture and Context, Mentoring Practice/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes For decades, the mentoring field has operated with a fairly consistent , and arguably incomplete, logic. Programs need to work with youth who most at risk, assign them a mentor, and let the relationship to do its work. A new study by Margaret Meldrum and Michael D. Lyons (2026), published in Prevention […]

Important New Evaluation Highlights the Promise (and Limits) of CBT-Informed Mentoring

February 23, 2026/in Editors Blog/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes A new randomized controlled trial of the YMCA’s Reach and Rise program, led by Roger Jarjoura and colleagues and published in the American Journal of Community Psychology, deserves close attention (Jarjoura et al., 2026). It offers rare experimental evidence that a volunteer mentoring program grounded in cognitive behavioral principles can reduce externalizing […]

A Concerning New Study on Young People and AI

February 20, 2026/in Improving Outcomes, Natural Mentoring/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes A young person is struggling. They could text a friend, talk to a parent, or reach out to a school counselor. Instead, they open ChatGPT. This scenario is no longer hypothetical. A new nationally representative study from Surgo Health, The Jed Foundation, and Young Futures (2026) found that 12 percent of young […]

A Super Bowl Ad With Psychology Behind It

February 9, 2026/in Editors Blog/by Jean Rhodes

On Sunday, millions of viewers watched the NFL’s 60-second Super Bowl LX commercial, Champion, featuring a young boy in his bedroom delivering a motivational speech to his action figures and stuffed animals, echoing word for word the speech his coach had given him on the field. “I am a champion,” the boy says, as the scene […]

New Survey Highlights a National Crisis of Connection

January 17, 2026/in Uncategorized/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes The recently released Social Connection in America 2025 survey reveals a nation in the midst of a profound crisis of disconnection. Nearly three-quarters of American adults report getting together with close relationships twice a month or less, and 41 percent experience loneliness at least some of the time. Perhaps most troubling, a […]

Invisible Digital Companions: How Mentors Can Help Youth Navigate AI

January 13, 2026/in Editors Blog/by Jean Rhodes

By Jean Rhodes I recently listened to a fascinating episode of the American Psychological Association’s Speaking of Psychology podcast featuring Dr. Ashleigh Golden and Dr. Rachel Wood discussing AI companions and mental health. The conversation left me thinking about how little many parents and mentors may understand about how teens actually use artificial intelligence, and […]

About Jean Rhodes

Entries by Jean Rhodes

The Flipside of Microaggressions: How Micro-Recognitions Change Everything in Mentoring

The Gift Goes Both Ways: What a New Meta-Analysis Reveals About Purpose, Meaning, and Older Adult Mentors

No One Should Leave Empty-Handed: Single-Session Approaches for Youth on Waitlists

Undergraduate career mentoring: Social mobility panacea or ethical dilemma?

New study highlights the need to consider mentees’ risks and protective factors

Important New Evaluation Highlights the Promise (and Limits) of CBT-Informed Mentoring

A Concerning New Study on Young People and AI

A Super Bowl Ad With Psychology Behind It

New Survey Highlights a National Crisis of Connection

Invisible Digital Companions: How Mentors Can Help Youth Navigate AI

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About Jean Rhodes

Entries by Jean Rhodes

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