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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1486398
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Equity: Exploring EDI in Higher Education Institutes View all 6 articles

Undergraduate University Students Mentoring Program: Experiences of Mentors and Mentees

Provisionally accepted
Sinaa Al-Aqeel Sinaa Al-Aqeel 1*Hana Alhumaid Hana Alhumaid 2
  • 1 King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Research on the impact of mentoring on students and mentors is limited. Therefore, this study explored the experiences of mentors and mentees involved in a mentoring program for undergraduate students at a governmental academic institution in Saudi Arabia. The program connected undergraduate students with peer students, academic staff, or alumni based on their needs. Using an online survey (n=80) and a focus group (n=24), we examined mentees' and mentors' perceptions of their mentoring experiences. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participants' responses to the survey. The focus group data were analyzed using six phases of thematic analysis. The findings showed that the participants' mentoring experience was positive, with some challenges, such as limited time, unmet expectations of mentees, and a lack of student engagement. The motivation to volunteer as a mentor focused mainly on wanting to help others and appreciating the value of mentoring based on the mentors' previous experiences.

    Keywords: mentoring, higher education, undergraduate students, Alumni, Evaluation

    Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 08 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Al-Aqeel and Alhumaid. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sinaa Al-Aqeel, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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