Peer mentoring for international students in a UK law school: lessons from a pilot case study

Abstract

This qualitative study discusses the impact of a support network for international students of culturally diverse backgrounds using a peer mentoring scheme. The scheme focused on facilitating cultural integration in the international student community in Newcastle and sought to engender a cooperative community among new students. Data obtained from focus groups revealed the success of the mentoring scheme in facilitating integration of first-year international students, engendering a community of international students in the school, and subsequently increasing the percentage of passes in the first-year examination while reducing the attrition rate.

Keywords:

• international students
• mentoring relationships
• qualitative analysis via focus group discussion
• undergraduate law curriculum
• integration

Acknowledgements

I thank Ian Dawson, Ian Ward and Richard Collier for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I am also grateful to Ann Sinclair for her research assistance, to all the participants who generously contributed their time to this project and to Newcastle University PVC Teaching and Learning Fund for their generosity in funding this scheme. An earlier version of this paper was delivered at the UK Centre for Legal Education, Learning in Law Annual Conference, Warwick University, January 2009.