The Young Women Leaders Program: A Mentoring Program Targeted Toward Adolescent Girls

This paper focused on the effects of a combined group and one-on-one mentoring program targeted specifically toward adolescent girls with a focus on increasing competence, connection, and autonomy (Ryan and Deci in Am Psychol 55(1):68–78, 2000). Participants were seventh-grade girls participating in the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) (n = 79) and a group of comparison girls not receiving intervention (n = 47). The sample was predominantly minority (72 % nonwhite) and the majority of participants received free or reduced price lunch (65 %). Results indicated no change in self-reported global self-esteem (one’s overall feeling of satisfaction with self) for girls participating in YWLP, whereas the comparison group declined in self-reported global self-esteem from pre- to posttest. Additionally, within the YWLP program group, girls receiving free/reduced lunch self-reported declines in school self-esteem (one’s overall feeling of satisfaction with school), whereas girls not receiving free/reduced lunch experienced no change. Implications for school-based programs, specifically mentoring programs targeted toward adolescent girls are discussed.