A systematic review of graduate student peer mentorship in academia

ABSTRACT

While researchers have suggested that mentorship positively affects academic and learning outcomes in higher education, little is known about the impact of peer mentoring on graduate students’ academic experiences. We conducted a systematic review to explore the impact of peer mentorship on graduate students’ learning, and formal approaches to enhancing these relationships. We searched eight multidisciplinary databases to identify relevant studies. Studies were included if they reported on graduate students’ peer mentoring, or evaluated initiatives to further the development of these relationships. Forty-seven studies were included in this review. The majority of students who participate in formal peer-mentoring programs benefit from these experiences. Peer mentorship positively affects developmental outcomes across four domains of graduate learning: academic, social, psychological, and career. While group-mentoring may be an effective means of delivering peer-mentorship support, further evaluative research is required to determine how academic institutions can promote positive peer mentoring relationships in graduate education.

KEYWORDS:

• Mentorship
• graduate students
• higher education
• peer mentorship
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diane L. Lorenzetti

Diane L. Lorenzetti MLS, PhD is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, and Director of the University of Calgary’s Health Sciences Library. Her research interests focus on mentorship as a means of furthering personal and professional development.

Leah Shipton

Leah Shipton MPH is currently a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Lorelli Nowell

Lorelli Nowell RN, PhD is an Assistant Professor and holds a Research Professorship in Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Nursing University of Calgary. Her research interests include innovations in teaching and learning and the professional development of educators.

Michele Jacobsen

Michele Jacobsen PhD is a Professor at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education. Michele’s current research includes the design of participatory learning environments that sponsor knowledge building and intellectual engagement, interdisciplinary approaches to peer mentoring for strong transitions to graduate school, and complex adaptive learning systems in high schools.

Liza Lorenzetti

Liza Lorenzetti PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work. Her interest in social change is grounded by thirty years of practice and activism on interconnected social issues such as gender-based violence, poverty elimination, peace-building, and anti-racism.

Tracey Clancy

Tracey Clancy RN, MN is a tenured senior instructor and Assistant Dean Faculty Development at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Nursing, and a PhD student in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Victoria.

Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci

Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci PhD is Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director at the University of Calgary’s Departments of Community Health Sciences and Surgery. Her scholarship is interdisciplinary and focused on curriculum planning and evaluation for graduate and resident education; and hierarchy, teamwork, and clinical decision-making, as it relates to patient safety and medical errors.