Undergraduate peer mentoring: an investigation into processes, activities and outcomes

Peer mentoring of undergraduates is increasingly being used in higher education to reduce first year attrition by aiding transition to university. We propose that peer mentoring may also be a means of transmitting the values and ethics which reflect academic and personal integrity and underpin graduate and professional identity. In a qualitative study, we examined students' expectations and subsequent experience of a psychology undergraduate pilot mentoring scheme, together with the process and content. Mentors and mentees felt that mentors had a unique part to play in aiding transition to university. Mentors' advice reflected implicit academic values rather than strategic short cuts and mentoring cued reflection on their own development. The implications for encouraging student participation in mentoring schemes are discussed.