Personal Experiences and the Triangular Mentoring Model: Professional Mentors’ Narratives on Early Generativity in South Korea’s H-JUMP School Program

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Learning amid Migration, Displacement, and Division: Educational Practices, Community, and Peacebuilding

Proposal

1. Research Problem
Various forms of out-of-school time (OST) mentoring have been recognized as community-based efforts to address educational inequality. Since 2013, Join Us to Maximize our Potential (JUMP), a non-profit educational organization dedicated to equity, has run the H-JUMP School Program—one of South Korea’s most prominent youth mentorship initiatives. The program introduced a triangular model that promotes intergenerational exchange and mutual growth: university student volunteers support teens academically, while professional mentors guide university students’ career development. A unique aspect of this model is that former beneficiaries—both teen mentees and university student volunteers—often return as professional mentors after entering the workforce.
JUMP’s triangular mentoring model fosters a virtuous cycle of giving back and solidarity across generations. Over time, it has expanded into locally tailored initiatives and been adapted internationally in Vietnam and Indonesia. However, there remains a lack of literature analyzing the effectiveness of this model from multiple perspectives. Existing studies on JUMP’s triangular mentoring model have primarily examined program effectiveness at the university student level (Sim et al., 2021) or within philanthropic partnerships (Hong & Kim, 2018), leaving a gap in qualitative inquiry.
Drawing on more than a decade of program data from the JUMP Secretariat and situated within a research-practice partnership (RPP) framework, this case study investigates these motivations through the lived experiences and narratives of program alumni.

2. Framework
Erikson (1963) identified generativity as a psychosocial developmental characteristic most prominent in individuals in their 30s through 50s, describing it as the concern for and commitment to leaving something meaningful to the next generation within one’s professional field or community. Expanding on Erikson, McAdams and de St. Aubin (1992) argued that generativity can be expressed not only through parenting but also across domains such as professional work, volunteering, religious and political participation, friendships, community engagement, and leisure. They further proposed seven core components of generativity: (1) cultural demand; (2) inner desire; (3) concern for the next generation; (4) belief in the species; (5) commitment; (6) action; (7) and narration. More recently, Lawford et al. (2020) demonstrated that features of generativity also appear among individuals aged 17 to 23, underscoring the importance of research on early generativity in young adulthood.
Applied to JUMP’s triangular mentoring model, this study conceptualizes the transition of H-JUMP School alumni from university volunteers to professional mentors as a “virtuous cycle of early generativity.”

3. Data and Methods
This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews and narrative inquiry, using McAdams and de St. Aubin’s (1992) model as the guiding framework. Narrative inquiry allows individuals to construct meaning from their everyday experiences through the telling and retelling of life stories (Clandinin, 2013; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000).
Within an RPP framework, the study was co-designed with the JUMP Secretariat through regular meetings to ensure practical relevance for improving the triangular mentoring model. For interviewee recruitment, the Secretariat provided application data from 128 professional mentors with prior H-JUMP volunteer experience. Purposive sampling considered cohort and occupational diversity among mentors in their mid-20s to early 30s. From November 2024 to February 2025, ten interviewees completed one 60-minute interview, held in person or online. Interviews were flexibly conducted, with follow-up questions tailored to participants’ responses to elicit rich narratives.
The interview protocol covered broad themes: early volunteering experiences in childhood and adolescence; motivations for joining the H-JUMP School Program; experiences as university volunteers; reasons for returning to the program as professional mentors; and reflections on mentoring. Data coding proceeded in two stages: the first cycle employed inductive coding, while the second cycle applied deductive coding using McAdams and de St. Aubin’s (1992) generativity model.

4. Findings
Interviewees’ personal resources and mentoring experiences shaped the development of generativity narratives, underscoring the model’s role in fostering early generativity. Moreover, the scripts formed through interviewees’ simultaneous experiences as both recipients and providers of mentoring during their time as university volunteers later influenced their practices and narrative expansions as professional mentors. Findings reveal not only the model’s seven components of generativity, but also expanded dimensions such as personal growth, space, and self-awareness.
Personal growth—Early volunteering experiences in childhood and adolescence, often facilitated through family or school activities, were found to foster an initial interest in mentoring. However, motivations for participating in the triangular mentoring model extended beyond altruistic intentions. Several interviewees emphasized that program participation was also driven by opportunities for personal growth, such as scholarships provided in return for participation and the potential to enhance their CVs for future employment.
Space—Reflecting on their university mentoring experiences, interviewees explained that supporting educationally marginalized teenagers while receiving career guidance from professional mentors reinforced their orientation toward future giving back. While some engaged in community service beyond JUMP, most strengthened their responsibility and commitment within the triangular mentoring model, grounded in trust in the JUMP community. These findings suggest that decisions about where, when, and how to enact early generativity are deeply rooted in earlier experiences and personal narratives.
Self-awareness—The timing of alumni rejoining the triangular mentoring model as professional mentors varied considerably. Some interviewees delayed reentry due to self-doubt over whether they had sufficient knowledge or experience to contribute meaningfully. In these cases, the JUMP Secretariat’s consistent outreach—through alumni community gatherings, sharing testimonials from professional mentors, or direct invitations to join—helped to mitigate self-doubt and facilitated earlier participation in the program.

5. Significance
Young adults’ mentoring narratives foster early generativity, while organizational strategies that encourage re-engagement in the triangular mentoring model can accelerate its emergence. Co-designed with JUMP through an RPP framework, this research offers practical guidance for improving the model’s operations. By uncovering narratives beyond the seven components of McAdams and de St. Aubin’s (1992) framework, the findings highlight the model’s theoretical potential for extension, contributing to scholarly discourse. Ultimately, the study underscores that early generativity, as manifested within the model, promotes a virtuous cycle of giving back to future generations as a pathway toward educational equity.

Authors

• Kyungsil Song, Korean Minjok Leadership Academy

• Yura Oh, Stanford University