Posts

Mentoring in Trump’s America

Update: We wrote this post 3 years ago, soon after Trump became president. Our focus was on what mentors can do to support youth who are marginalized by our society (e.g., youth of color, LGBTQ youth). Our post is still relevant as an urgent call to mentoring organizations, staff, and volunteer mentors to support Black […]

How volunteers in mentoring can help provide a bridge between youth in distress and leaders

Yanay-Ventura, G., & Amitay, G. (2019). Volunteers’ practices in mentoring youth in distress: Volunteers as informal agents for youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 99, 418-428. Summarized by Karina DeAndrade Note of Interest: This qualitative study examined the mentoring process from the volunteers’ perspective. Specifically, researchers interviewed 28 participants to understand how they learn about ways […]

Research applies sociological concepts to mentoring programs

Stanton-Salazar, R. (2016). Contributions of social capital theory and social network models in advancing the connection between students’ school-based learning and community-based opportunities for pursuing interest-driven learning. Paper presented at Power Brokers: Building Youth Social Capital through Connected Learning. University of California, Irvine.   Summarized by Justin Preston In a paper presented in the Fall […]

An evidence-based approach to improving literacy skills through mentoring

Miller, S., Connolly, P. & Maguire, L.K. (2011). A Follow-Up Randomised Controlled Trial Evaluation of the Effects of Business in the Community’s Time to Read mentoring programme, Belfast: Centre for  Effective Education, Queen’s University Belfast. Introduction: As a society we are continually concerned about and invested in improving the well-being of youth in order to […]

New research investigates the different mentor roles taken on by sports coaches

White, J. S., Schempp, P. G., McCullick, B. A., Berger, B. S., & Elliott, J. M. (2017). Mentoring relationships in sport from the protégé’s perspective. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 15(1), 152-168. Summarized by Julia Mancini Notes of Interest: This article explores the effectiveness of the functions and roles in mentoring relationships […]

New research shows the important role of natural mentors for delinquency in youth

Editor’s Note: This recent longitudinal study provides interesting insights into the specific relationship between mentoring and juvenile delinquency. Not only does this article show the positive effects mentoring relationships seem to have on delinquency, the authors also discuss certain characteristics of the mentoring relationship seem to matter the most.   Reference: Kelley, M. S., & Lee, […]

What Predicts Volunteers’ Commitment to Mentoring Relationships? You guessed it…

Madia, B.P., & Lutz, C.J. (2004). Perceived similarity, expectation-reality discrepancies, and mentors’ expressed intention to remain in Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34 (3), 598-623. Mentor initiated premature terminations compromise mentoring programs’ goal of fostering quality relationships between youth and nonparental adults. Moreover, for youth from potentially vulnerable backgrounds, the premature […]

Lindsey Weiler on the need for trying new methods to reach youth in foster care

Written by Lindsey Weiler, Ph.D., originally posted in Youth Today If you work with youth in foster care, you know that every child is unique with specific needs, strengths and opportunities. It shouldn’t be surprising, therefore, that the impact of mentoring for youth in foster care varies greatly. Most people would agree that a relationship […]

New research investigates parents’ influence on success of mentoring relationship in academics

Editor’s Note: The present study helps to further support the idea of the important role that parents play in the success of a formal mentoring relationship with regards to academic outcomes. As such, mentoring programs could potentially further boost their positive outcomes by connecting with and collaborating with parents during the mentoring process. Larose, S., […]

Donors bet big on paid mentoring: Does it work?

Written by Michael Fitzgerald, The Chronicle of Social Change Mentoring saved 41-year-old Gary Clemons’ life. Separated from his mother at age 5, running with violent gangs at 15, father to a visually disabled child at 19, and homeless at 24 — Clemons couldn’t imagine that the mentors who helped him mount these challenges would guide […]