Illuminating Life Choices: The Role of Mentoring Support for Secondary School Students

• In Event: Mentoring Children and Young Adults: Benefits and Impact

Abstract

This paper reports on a mentoring programme for secondary students in one of the local education authorities in Scotland. The students, aged between 15-17 years old, were paired with adults from various business industries, mainly in the sciences and health sectors. The project was aimed at supporting students’ engagement with school subjects in relation to their intended careers as well as aiding a seamless transition of students into further/higher education or the world of work.
Results show that mentoring had significant benefits for students’ personal development and career preparations. The results also show that the success of mentoring heavily depended upon personal relationships in the mentoring dyad, clarity of expectations, appropriateness of spaces for interactions, and mentees’ self-drive.

Author

• Peter Mtika, The University of Aberdeen