Peer mentoring in Higher Education: a review of the current literature and recommendations for implementation of mentoring schemes

This paper aims to present an overview of how mentoring schemes could be applied to a University setting to assist with the transfer of direct entry students (those who join degree programmes in years 2 or 3) onto current courses. Heirdsfield, Walker, Walsh and Wilss (2008) highlight that money is invested into attracting students to study at Universities; however little is invested into retaining students. Direct entry students in particular can suffer from problems related to transition to a University setting. These may include „feelings of isolation and uncertainty‟ (Cantwell & Scevak, 2004). The application of a mentoring scheme could help reduce the problems which new and direct students may encounter. However, the concept of the student-mentor relationship is complex (Wilkes, 2006) and schemes need to be constructed with knowledge of current research and careful planning. Few University based mentoring schemes have published critical evaluations of their programmes, however research in other types of organisations and settings can provide insight into how such schemes could be applied to a University setting. It is important to have guidelines for those who wish to adopt such schemes. If the mentoring scheme is carried out inappropriately, it may have damaging effects on both the mentee and mentor (Tabbron, Macaulay & Cook, 1997)