Can Natural Mentors Support Success Among Low-Income College Students?
Reynolds, J. R., & Parrish, M. (2018). Natural Mentors, Social Class, and College Success. American journal of community psychology, 61(1-2), 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12209
Summarized by Mia Lamont
Introduction
Higher education in the United States is often framed as a pathway to economic mobility. However, class-based inequalities persist, shaping not only who attends college but also who successfully completes a degree. Reynolds and Parrish (2018) highlight the deep-rooted structural barriers that disadvantage lower-income students, including disparities in academic preparation, access to information about higher education, and financial resources. They examine whether (1) informal mentoring increases both college attendance and completion, (2) guidance and career advice are more influential than encouragement or role modeling, and (3) lower-income students benefit more from mentoring than their middle- and upper-class peers.
Methods
Authors gathered data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), which follows a nationally representative cohort from adolescence into adulthood. The analysis included a sample of 7,281 high school graduates, assessing their college attendance and degree completion by their mid-to-late twenties.
Mentorship was measured through self-reported responses to whether an adult, outside of parents, had played an important role in the respondent’s life since age 14. Respondents described their mentors’ contributions, which were categorized into four primary types:
(1) guidance/advice
(2) tangible help
(3) emotional support
(4) role modeling/inspiration.
Social class was determined based on parental occupation, education, and household income, categorizing respondents into five groups ranging from “poor” to “upper-class”.
The researchers conducted weighted logistic regression analyses, controlling for key factors such as high school GPA, family structure, parental education, race/ethnicity, and college aspirations.
Results
They found that natural mentors were found to significantly increase the odds of college attendance, particularly for students from poor, working-class, and lower-middle-class backgrounds. This suggests that mentors play a critical role in getting students through the initial hurdle of enrolling in college.
However, they found that rather than career guidance and advice being the most influential type of mentorship, students who reported having a mentor who provided encouragement or served as a role model were more likely to attend college. On the other hand, practical help or career-related guidance had little to no effect on college attendance.
Most strikingly, while mentorship was particularly beneficial for lower-income students in terms of increasing their likelihood of college attendance, it had no measurable impact on their ability to complete a degree. Across all social class groups, natural mentors did not significantly improve the odds of college graduation.
Discussion
These findings challenge the assumption that natural mentoring substantially narrows the class gap in higher education. While mentors may inspire and encourage students to enroll in college, they do not appear to provide the resources or sustained institutional support needed to ensure graduation.
One possible explanation is that the structural barriers to degree completion, such as financial instability, lack of institutional support, and academic struggles, are too great for informal mentors to overcome. Unlike formal mentoring programs that provide academic guidance and financial aid, natural mentors typically lack the resources to help students navigate college bureaucracy, persist through challenges, or secure funding to continue their studies.
Implications for Mentoring Programs
- Structured Support for Degree Completion: Colleges should integrate mentorship into their retention strategies, pairing students with advisors or peer mentors who can offer ongoing academic and social support.
- Financial and Institutional Guidance: Mentoring programs should emphasize not only emotional encouragement but also practical assistance with financial aid navigation, study strategies, and course selection.
- Targeted Support for Low-Income Students: Since lower-income students benefit the most from mentorship for college attendance, ensuring they receive continued guidance throughout their academic careers is essential.
By broadening the scope of mentoring programs to include persistence and degree attainment, institutions can more effectively address the inequalities that continue to shape educational outcomes.
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