Claus-Christian Carbon

The purpose of our study was to explore peer mentoring styles and examine their contribution to academic success among mentees. Data were collected as part of a comprehensive evaluation of a peer mentor-ing program. The sample consisted of 49 mentors (advanced students) who supported 376 mentees (first year students) in small groups. Indica-tors for peer mentoring styles were constructed using mentee assess-ments of mentoring functions and mentor quality, and unobtrusive data gathered in an analysis of online mentoring activities and a content anal-ysis of the quality of the online mentoring activities. Using cluster analy-ses, three distinct mentoring styles were identified: Motivating master mentoring, informatory standard mentoring, and negative minimalist mentoring. Motivating master mentors were shown to have a positive influence on success in the mentoring program among those mentees who failed two preliminary exams. Implications for the training of peer mentors in higher education are discussed