Peer Group Mentoring Programmes in Finnish Higher Education––Mentors’ Perspectives

Abstract

Peer mentoring is one of the most important guidance practices for first-year students entering higher education and academic life. We are interested in mentors’ roles and apply the ideas of group counseling in order to increase the understanding of peer mentoring. Other aspects of guidance––content, methods, and collaboration––are approached on the basis of the holistic career guidance model. The data were gathered via an online questionnaire (n = 784) from 20 Finnish HE institutions. The results show that peer mentoring is a positive experience. The main emphasis is on the personal, psychosocial aspects of the student’s life. We identified four mentor types based on used activities. The experience of mentoring can vary according to the mentor type.

Keywords:

• peer mentoring
• higher education
• first-year students’ guidance
• mentors’ experiences