Date

8-9-2024

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Janet Deck

Keywords

mentee, higher education, technical college, mentorship, peer mentoring

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the lived experiences of mentees involved in a University Transfer program in a two-year technical college. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory. Bandura postulated that learning occurs in the social context through observing and emulating a mentor (model), thus creating the opportunity for the mentee (observer) to acquire new practices and skills. The study consisted of 10 mentees who participated in individual interviews and focus groups and maintained a reflective journal to share their personal experiences with their assigned peer mentor during the mentorship. The mentees were all current students at Triad Technical College which serves an annual enrollment of 25,603 students in a variety of course modalities. All data were analyzed and coded to highlight any emerging themes. The emerging themes presented by the data included the need by mentees for their mentors to be relatable to them including similar backgrounds, academic goals, and career goals. The data also indicated a unique preference for interactions between mentees and mentors to occur face-to-face rather than through digital means. Finally, the data suggested the mentees were able to learn more from their peer mentors than advisors on course selection, course success, the transfer process, and networking within their desired career pathway.

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