A Perfect Match: How Demographic Matching in Peer Mentoring Affects Academic Outcomes

• In Event: Mindsets and Mentorship: Improving Success for Underserved and Community College Students

Abstract

This study examines whether shared demographic characteristics between mentors and mentees influence academic outcomes for first-generation college students in a peer mentoring program. Preliminary analyses of data from 310 mentees and 32 mentors showed that matching by gender significantly improved spring GPA (+0.43) and credit accumulation (+1.46). No significant impacts were found for fall outcomes or shared race/ethnicity or minority status. These findings emphasize the potential importance of gender-based matching in supporting academic momentum and highlight the need to further investigate how relational quality and institutional supports shape mentoring effectiveness.

Authors

• Kubra Say, Harvard SDP - Office of Educational Quality and Accountability

• Nathan J. Daun-Barnett, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Melinda M. Whitford, University at Buffalo - SUNY