Experiences and Needs of Multicultural Youth and Their Mentors, and Implications for Digital Mentoring Platforms: Qualitative Exploratory Study
04 Feb 2020-Vol. 4, Iss: 2
TL;DR: Insight is gained into multicultural youth mentees’ and adult mentors’ experiences and needs in the context of an ongoing mentoring program, how digital support (electronic mentoring) might address these needs, and how such support could be designed and implemented.
Abstract: Background: Mentoring programs (ie, programs that connect youths with adult volunteers) have been shown to improve outcomes across the behavioral, social, and academic domains of youth development. As in other European countries, mentoring programs have few traditions in Norway, where interventions for multicultural youths are usually profession driven and publicly funded. Faced with the risk of disparities in education and health, there is a need to better understand this group’s experiences and requirements relative to mentoring. This would also serve as a basis for designing and implementing digital support.
Objective: The objective of this study was to gain insight into multicultural youth mentees’ and adult mentors’ experiences and needs in the context of an ongoing mentoring program, how digital support (electronic mentoring) might address these needs, and how such support could be designed and implemented.
Methods: The study used a qualitative approach, with data from 28 respondents (21 mentees and 7 mentors). In total, 4 workshops with mentees as well as semistructured interviews with mentees and mentors were conducted. The sessions were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically.
Results: In total, 3 main themes were identified from the experiences and needs reported by the mentees and mentors. These included a need for connection, help in achieving goals, and the need for security and control. Subthemes encompassed a desire to socialize with others, balancing the nature of the relationship, paying it forward, building trust, sharing insights and information with peers, goal-oriented mentees and mentors wanting to assist with goal achievement, and the fundamental need for privacy and anonymity in the digital platform.
Conclusions: The findings of this study are supported by the literature on traditional mentoring, while also offering suggestions for the design of digital solutions to supplement the in-person mentoring of multicultural youth. Suggestions include digital support for managing the mentee-mentor relationships, fostering social capital, and ways of ensuring security and control. Features of existing electronic health apps can be readily adapted to a mentoring program context, potentially boosting the reach and benefits of mentoring.
Citations
More filters
03 May 2018
2,508 citations
TL;DR: Digitally enhanced mentoring programs may be a helpful intervention for providing immigrant youth with tools for increasing their social capital and indirectly improving health outcomes and this protocol provides new knowledge about the implementation and evaluation of such programs.
Abstract: Background: There are large disparities between immigrants and native Norwegians in domains such as health, education, and employment. Reducing such disparities is essential for individual and soci ...
3 citations
Cites background or methods from "Experiences and Needs of Multicultu..."
...Therefore, a prior study [31] of immigrant mentees’ and mentors’ experiences and needs was conducted to guide the development of a digital platform....
[...]
...This protocol was informed by a prepilot study conducted from January to June 2019 [31], which focused on the experiences and needs of stakeholders with relation to the digital mentoring platform and perceptions around the concept of social capital....
[...]
10 Aug 2020
TL;DR: The MUII-plus mentorship programme has strong potential to offer research and career mentorship to its fellows and there is a need for innovative ways to engage mentors; such as digital platforms (e-mentorship) for greater mentor-mentee interactions.
Abstract: Background: The MUII mentorship programme began 11 years ago with a successful group mentorship model. Over the years, the programme has evolved and is presently anchored on the “GROW” approach. This model allows individuals to: set G oals (What I want?); R eflect (Where am I now?); think of O ptions (What can I do?); W hat to implement (my actions?). It is intended to help fellows (current, honorary, alumni) herein referred to as mentees achieve their short, medium, and long-term research, career and professional goals. Methods: A mixed methods study combining a cross-sectional survey, one focus group discussion and 11 in-depth key informant interviews were carried out between November 2018 and January 2019 to 1) assess the status of the mentorship programme, 2) perform a strength weakness opportunity and threats (SWOT) analysis, and 3) identify factors relevant for sustainability. Results: An open invitation was made to 52 fellows to participate in the survey, and 23 responded. Among respondents, the largest proportions were male [70% (16/23)], and PhD fellows [35% (8/23)]. The respondents rated the fellowship experience as excellent [65% (15/23)], and most [78% (18/23)] revealed they had benefitted greatly from the programme. The SWOT analysis revealed outstanding strengths of having regular fellows’ meetings for peer support, and availability of international collaborations, linkages and exposure. Opportunities identified included large pool of mentees within MUII-plus and evidence of fellows taking up leadership positions. The biggest threat to the mentorship programme was the busy schedule of mentors. Conclusions: The MUII-plus mentorship programme has strong potential to offer research and career mentorship to its fellows. To promote sustainability of the programme, there is a need for innovative ways to engage mentors; such as digital platforms (e-mentorship) for greater mentor-mentee interactions.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the literature on community-based youth mentoring relationships is presented, with the main findings regarding the characteristics of the relationship and the mediating and moderating variables.
Abstract: Formal community-based youth mentoring relationships (CBM) are a popular form of intervention worldwide in which caring, non-parental adult figures are matched with at-risk children (i.e., children who experience an intense and/or chronic risk factor, or a combination of risk factors in personal, environmental and/or relational domains that prevent them from pursuing and fulfilling their potential) to promote development and health. Common models suggest that a close mentoring relationship is needed for the success of the intervention. However, it remains unclear which key relational processes and variables promote relationship quality to generate the most significant benefits. Using the PRISMA framework, 123 articles were identified as relevant for this review which explores the state of the literature on CBM relationships describing the main findings regarding the characteristics of the relationship and the mediating and moderating variables. An essential ingredient that consistently emerged for generating mentoring outcomes is characterized by feelings of support, sensitivity, and trust and accompanied by a purposeful approach to shaping the goals of the relationship. A balanced approach comprised of recreational, emotional, and catalyzing aspects has been reported as essential for mentoring success. Mentors’ positive attitudes toward underprivileged youth, maturity in terms of age and experience are essential in forging positive relationships. Mentees who have better relational histories and more positive personality traits exhibited higher relationship quality. However, data imply the possibility of addressing mentees from moderate risk status. Preliminary evidence on thriving as a mediating variable was found. Program practices, such as training, parental involvement, and matching based on perceived similarities and similar interests, emerged as important factors. Generating many research suggestions, the review identifies research questions and uncharted territories that require inquiry.
1 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology as mentioned in this paper, and it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data.
Abstract: Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.
103,789 citations
"Experiences and Needs of Multicultu..." refers methods in this paper
...Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, where the researchers first familiarize themselves with the data; generate initial codes; assess, review, and name themes; and then report findings [27]....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of social capital is introduced and illustrated, its forms are described, the social structural conditions under which it arises are examined, and it is used in an analys...
Abstract: In this paper, the concept of social capital is introduced and illustrated, its forms are described, the social structural conditions under which it arises are examined, and it is used in an analys...
31,693 citations
"Experiences and Needs of Multicultu..." refers background in this paper
...In addition to appreciative inquiry [10], which explicitly redirects attention away from problems and vulnerabilities toward strengths and opportunities, Catalysts’ theory of change encompassed elements closely aligned with social capital [18-22], particularly the bridging type of social capital that is found across the lines of age, social status, and ethnicity [23]....
[...]
...The importance of trust, a central aspect of social capital [18,19], was evident in how mentors and mentees discussed requirements for environments that fostered genuine supportive sharing [17,42]....
[...]
[...]
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The notion of capital is a force inscribed in objective or subjective structures, but it is also a lex insita, the principle underlying the immanent regularities of the social world as mentioned in this paper, which is what makes the games of society, not least the economic game, something other than simple simple games of chance offering at every moment the possibility of a miracle.
Abstract: The social world is accumulated history, and if it is not to be reduced to a discontinuous series of instantaneous mechanical equilibria between agents who are treated as interchangeable particles, one must reintroduce into it the notion of capital and with it, accumulation and all its effects. Capital is accumulated labor (in its materialized form or its ‘incorporated,’ embodied form) which, when appropriated on a private, i.e., exclusive, basis by agents or groups of agents, enables them to appropriate social energy in the form of reified or living labor. It is a vis insita, a force inscribed in objective or subjective structures, but it is also a lex insita, the principle underlying the immanent regularities of the social world. It is what makes the games of society – not least, the economic game – something other than simple games of chance offering at every moment the possibility of a miracle. Roulette, which holds out the opportunity of winning a lot of money in a short space of time, and therefore of changing one’s social status quasi-instantaneously, and in which the winning of the previous spin of the wheel can be staked and lost at every new spin, gives a fairly accurate image of this imaginary universe of perfect competition or perfect equality of opportunity, a world without inertia, without accumulation, without heredity or acquired properties, in which every moment is perfectly independent of the previous one, every soldier has a marshal’s baton in his knapsack, and every prize can be attained, instantaneously, by everyone, so that at each moment anyone can become anything. Capital, which, in its objectified or embodied forms, takes time to accumulate and which, as a potential capacity to produce profits and to reproduce itself in identical or expanded form, contains a tendency to persist in its being, is a force inscribed in the objectivity of things so that everything is not equally possible or impossible. And the structure of the distribution of the different types and subtypes of capital at a given moment in time represents the immanent structure of the social world, i.e. , the set of constraints, inscribed in the very reality of that world, which govern its functioning in a durable way, determining the chances of success for practices.
21,046 citations
"Experiences and Needs of Multicultu..." refers background in this paper
...In addition to appreciative inquiry [10], which explicitly redirects attention away from problems and vulnerabilities toward strengths and opportunities, Catalysts’ theory of change encompassed elements closely aligned with social capital [18-22], particularly the bridging type of social capital that is found across the lines of age, social status, and ethnicity [23]....
[...]
01 Mar 2003
TL;DR: In this article, a nova edicao do conhecido livro sobre metodologia de pesquisa de Creswell is presented, e uma obra excelente de referencia for cursos introdutorios de metodology-de-pisa em programas de pos-graduacao.
Abstract: Nova edicao do conhecido livro sobre metodologia de pesquisa de Creswell. Originalmente pensado no campo da Educacao, o autor ficou muito conhecido tambem em Administracao. Nesta nova edicao, ele procura sair da dicotomia metodos quantitativos x qualitativos, com uma otima discussao adicional sobre metodos mistos. Como um todo, e uma obra excelente de referencia para cursos introdutorios de metodologia de pesquisa em programas de pos-graduacao.
17,126 citations
"Experiences and Needs of Multicultu..." refers background in this paper
...Over time, as the requirements for the design of an e-mentoring platform began to take shape, questions became more specific, for example, “If an app were to be introduced as part of the program, what would be useful to you to have in such an app, and why?” During the discussions, participants were asked follow-up questions to expand on what was said and to reflect upon their answers if needed [26]....
[...]
...In the latter case, a purposive sampling of mentors and mentees was used to select participants with varied backgrounds in terms of program progression and demographic characteristics [26]....
[...]
Book•
21 Feb 1986
TL;DR: The first handbook on the sociology of education as discussed by the authors synthesizes major advances in education over the past several decades, incorporating both a systematic review of significant theoretical and empirical work and challenging original contributions by distinguished American, English, and French sociologists.
Abstract: The first of its kind, this handbook synthesizes major advances in the sociology of education over the past several decades. It incorporates both a systematic review of significant theoretical and empirical work and challenging original contributions by distinguished American, English, and French sociologists. In his introduction, John G. Richardson traces the development of the sociology of education and reviews the important classical European works in which this discipline is grounded. Each chapter, devoted to a major topic in the field, provides both a review of the literature and an exposition of an original thesis. The inclusion of subjects outside traditional sociological concern--such as the historical foundations of education and the sociology of special education--gives an interdisciplinary scope that enhances the volume's usefulness.
7,071 citations