Research In Action Series
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Research in Action is an innovative series that highlights the importance of connecting mentoring research to practice and policy to increase the impact of youth mentoring.
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Research Corner
In creating this valuable new resource, we called on Dr. Jean Rhodes, a professor of psychology with UMASS Boston and a research associate with the Harvard Graduate School of Education. According to Dr. Rhodes, a large body of research exists on mentoring - much of it scholarly work undertaken by universities and not readily accessible to practitioners. Yet, she says, this unknown work contains a multitude of practical applications that could greatly benefit our provider partners and the mentoring community-at-large. Through the Research Corner, we intend to share this wealth of information.
As an advisor to the Research Corner, Dr. Rhodes will review the most salient and pertinent research on mentoring and develop a series of fact sheets on a variety of youth-mentoring topics.
Dr. Rhodes latest research is contained in a provocative new book, Stand by Me: The Risks and Rewards of Youth Mentoring.
A large body of research exists on mentoring. Much of this work contains a multitude of applications that could greatly benefit the mentoring community. Through the Research Corner, we intend to share this wealth of information by summarizing and extracting its practical benefits.
Strategies For Recruiting And Retaining Volunteers, April 2006
Although most people view mentoring as a worthwhile pursuit, far fewer actually step forward and volunteer. Consequently, despite strenuous efforts, many programs struggle to recruit enough volunteers for all of the children who need them. It is not uncommon for a child to spend a year or more on a waiting list to get a mentor.
Fostering Positive Outcomes, December 2005
Each year, over a quarter of a million children are removed from their homes and placed in foster care, usually as a result of abuse or neglect. Perhaps not surprisingly, as compared with other children, youth in foster care experience a range of mental health problems, including depression, aggression and withdrawal.
Mentoring Immigrant Youth, August 2005
Mentoring Immigrant Youth Today, one in five children in the United States is a child of immigrants; and by 2040, it is projected that one in three will be the child of an immigrant (Rong & Preissle, 1998). Many of these youth bring with them remarkable strengths, however, their journey presents a number of challenges.
Spanning the Gender Gap in Mentoring, May 2005
Surprisingly few studies have examined how gender shapes youth mentoring relationships. Consequently, key questions regarding gender differences in mentoring remain unanswered.
The Critical Ingredient in Afterschool Programs, February 2005
Although not fully appreciated, after-school settings provide wonderful opportunities for the formation of informal mentoring relationships. Faced with ewer curricular demands than teachers, the staff who work in after-school programs have unique opportunities to engage in the sorts of informal conversations and activities that give rise to close bonds with youth.
Natural Mentors, February 2005
Natural Mentors Help Mold Lives of Teens, Study Says From UIC News. Natural mentoring relationships positively impact teens, but these relationships do not meet all the needs of at-risk youth.
Mentoring Children of Prisoners, January 2005
Who are the children? An estimated two million children between the ages of five and eighteen have a parent who is behind bars. With the incarcerated population growing at a rate of 6% a year.
Online Mentoring, January 2004
The promise and pitfalls of an emerging approach Online mentoring has taken off in recent years-often as an adjunct to face-to-face meetings, but sometimes as the primary means of connecting caring adults with youth.
Work based Mentoring, July 2003
Informal and formal mentors have been heralded as among the key ingredients in shaping the academic and career development of youth.
Research Roundup, April 2003
Despite their shared interests, researchers and practitioners in the field of mentoring often occupy separate worlds. Practitioners don't always base their program decisions on the latest scientific research-not out of any intent to ignore findings but simply because such rigorous studies are in short supply.
School based Mentoring, September 2002
School-based mentoring programs have become increasingly popular. Approximately 30 percent of mentoring programs are located in schools -- and such programs are continuing to expand at an unprecedented rate.
Making Mentoring Work, July 2002
How does mentoring work? Few researchers have directly examined this question. However, a substantial body of research on helping relationships in counseling and therapeutic settings does exist and is relevant to mentoring relationships.
Group Mentoring, May 2002
What is group mentoring? The notion of placing adolescents in groups with one or more caring adults is not new. Youth have long participated in skills-training groups, camps, team sports, outdoor adventure programs, scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H, and a myriad of other activities.
Keeping Matches Together, February 2002
Most staff can easily point to the "magical matches" in their programs-pairs in which a mentor's support and guidance has enabled a young person to overcome very difficult circumstances. These relationships are usually characterized by regular meetings over relatively long periods of time, and mutual benefits.
Mentoring and Race, February 2002
Many programs act on the implicit and sometimes explicit assumption that white mentors (the most common mentor in a cross-race match) cannot appreciate the experiences of minority youth nor fully assist them in achieving their goals.
Benefits from Mentoring, January 2002
"Why did you do all this for me?" [Wilbur] asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you." "You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. …" By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift my life a trifle. Heaven knows, anyone's life can stand a little of that."
Gauging the Effectiveness of Youth Mentoring
Although program evaluation is not as natural or spontaneous as this sort of self-evaluation, most programs engage in some form of monitoring. Sometimes it's as simple as asking mentees and mentors about their experiences; in other cases it involves large-scale, rigorous experimental designs.
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