Entries by Mia Lamont

New Study Finds Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentoring Linked to First-Year Student Success

Werntz, A., Deng, Y., Jasman, M., Yowell, C., & Rhodes, J. E. (2025). Effects of a technology-enhanced university peer mentoring program on first-year academic and well-being outcomes. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-03-2025-0027 Key Takeaways: Students who checked in and messaged their peer mentors more often earned higher GPAs, even when accounting […]

Beyond the 5%: Why Student Engagement Determines Whether Tutoring Works

Main Takeaways The “5% problem” in this article describes a persistent pattern in which only a small minority of students engage with tutoring systems frequently enough to benefit academically. Most tutoring technologies benefit only a small, highly motivated minority of students. Learning gains depend less on access to tutoring and more on whether students spend […]

New Study Explores How Risk and Support Shape Youth Mentoring Outcomes

Meldrum, M., & Lyons, M. D. (2026). Exploring profiles of risk and protective factors among youth mentees: For whom does mentoring work? Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-026-01878-3 Introduction Mentoring research has long reported small but consistent positive effects, alongside wide variation in outcomes. Meldrum and Lyons (2026) ask whether this variability reflects differences not only in youth […]

New Study Shows Strong Effects for Social Capital Intervention

Hersch, E., Werntz, A., Schwartz, S. E. O., Raposa, E. B., Hughes, J., Parnes, M. F., & Rhodes, J. E. (2025). Testing the effects of a social capital intervention on college student retention and academic success. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70027 Key Takeaways: Students who passed the course were more than three times as […]

Discrimination Undermines Belonging and Academic Success for First-Generation Students

Le, T. P., Forbes, N., & Raposa, E. B. (2026). Associations between discrimination and first-generation college students’ belonging and academic well-being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000914 Introduction Le and colleagues (2026) used a cross-sectional, multisite study to examine how everyday campus discrimination is associated with first-generation college students’ social belonging and academic […]

Center Researcher to Present at 45th Annual First Year Experience Conference

The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring is proud to share that Assistant Director Mia Lamont will present at the 45th Annual First-Year Experience Conference in Seattle, Washington this February. Her workshop, Centering Student Voice: Challenges Faced by First-Generation and MSI Students, presents findings from a student-centered, idiographic assessment examining the transition to college among first-generation students and those […]

New Study Highlights the Power of Expecting More From Teens

by Jean Rhodes Parents of middle schoolers hear the warnings constantly. Brace yourself for the teenage years. Eye rolling, rule breaking, academic decline it is all supposedly inevitable. This cultural narrative about adolescent storm and stress has become so pervasive that adults approach the teenage years with dread rather than curiosity. Yet research from opposite […]

Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring to Present at National Mentoring Summit

We’re excited to share that our team at The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring will be presenting at the upcoming National Mentoring Summit in Washington D.C. on February 5, 2026, sharing insights from its ongoing research on innovative mentoring approaches for youth in alternative education settings. The workshop, titled “Implementing an Anchor and Web Mentoring Model […]

Robert Putnam to Deliver Keynote at Upcoming Social Capital Conference

From March 26–28, 2026, Heriot-Watt University Dubai will host the Social Capital 2026 Conference, convening global thought leaders to explore the power of networks, trust, and connection in shaping stronger societies. Renowned political scientist Robert D. Putnam will deliver a highly anticipated keynote address, drawing on decades of influential research on social capital: the relationships […]