The impact of organized group mentoring on college completion and quality of life satisfaction

Today\u27s technological age and digital economy are major influences guiding the expectations of the current labor force. The tenor of the times suggests that people obtain college degrees to broaden their employment choices upon entering the labor force, and obtain jobs that provide worthy income and social advancement to access other socio-economic opportunities. This is especially important for people of color who are less likely to acquire elite labor roles even in today\u27s political economy, especially many Blacks and Latinos who appear to have the intellectual ability to thrive in this technological age. While the numbers of Blacks and Latinos who complete high school are increasing, when compared with Whites and Asians, high achieving Blacks and Latinos are more likely to drop out of college before completing their second collegiate year. The rate is even higher for average-achieving Blacks and Latinos. Using a sample of 131 survey respondents, Pathway to College Completion investigates how college completion and satisfaction with quality of life are related to participation in organized group mentoring and the components of socio-emotional well-being (self-esteem, self-concept, and general expectancy for success) among economically disadvantaged, high achieving persons of color. The primary hypothesis is that organized group mentoring significantly increases the components of socio-emotional well-being to increase the likelihood of college completion and satisfaction with quality of life among disadvantaged, high achieving persons of color. Organized group mentoring is an early socio-educational intervention to increase early awareness and overall readiness for higher education. Socio-emotional well-being is a composite of self-esteem, self-concept and general expectancy for success. The findings show that among respondents who positively identify with their organized group mentoring program, active participation in organized group mentoring has an impact on self-esteem and general expectancy for success to mediate quality of life satisfaction. The following examines organized group mentoring and how it supports educational engagement by looking at attachment and contextual theories, and discusses how organized group mentoring can promote better social and emotional outcomes in adulthood