The Insidiousness of Invisibility: Exploring the Mitigating Impact of a Mentoring Program on Marginalized Students

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Peer Mentoring Is Powerful (Table 40)

Abstract

The purpose of this three-year longitudinal qualitative study was to explore the potential impact of peer-to-peer mentoring on undergraduate students’ academic performance and mental well-being. University evidence suggests that despite the university’s remarkable diversity - and in particular, Asian diversity - these students are largely underrepresented in the data. There is also a disconnect between university resources and underrepresented populations of students. Data was collected through individual interviews, ongoing surveys and SMART goals documents. The results of this peer mentoring program suggests that a university peer mentoring program - when given time and resources to flourish, both mentors and mentees are actively participating, and mentors and mentees are thoughtfully paired - both mentees and their mentors significantly benefit.

Authors

• Amy Murdock, University of Houston

• Yali Zou, University of Houston