Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention

Social and Academic Investment

Exploring a Formal Peer Mentoring Program for First-Year Engineering Students

Krystal A. Foxx

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v23i1.2898

Keywords: Peer mentoring, academic and social engagement, first-year students, STEM, students of color, social capital, acces to resources, awareness of resources.

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Abstract

Peer mentoring serves as a strategy for engaging students both academically and socially in higher education. A qualitative case study was conducted to examine the experiences of three first-year engineering student mentees of color who participated in a formal peer mentoring program. The study also explored the participants’ perceptions of the roles of race, ethnicity, and social capital in their peer relationships. During one-onone interviews, student mentees emphasized increases of social capital, such as more access and awareness of resources and added active roles in student organizations on campus through their relationships with assigned mentors. Additionally, mentee participants mentioned having stronger connections to their peer mentors because of similarities in age and experiences in the classroom. As participants described benefits of the peer mentoring relationship leading to higher academic performance, enhanced skills were a major highlight. These skills included effective note taking, better study habits, and more positive interactions with faculty. Although student mentees did not perceive that race and ethnicity played a major role in their peer mentoring relationships, the female participant acknowledged gender as a major factor of the educational experience in engineering. Overall, the study highlighted that formal peer mentoring programs are highly beneficial in the orientation and transition of first-year engineering students as they navigate higher education institutions.