Outreach mentors with high school mentees: co-creating engagement, belonging and loyalty in higher education

Peer mentoring in higher education is regarded as an effective tool in retaining students. While various researchers have provided support for this, limited studies have looked at outreach mentoring programs as a satisfaction-creating service experience offered by universities for their students. This study examined the benefits of the LEAP Macquarie Mentoring program to first year university student mentors who are mentoring high school students from refugee backgrounds. Three focus groups with 21 university mentors, an online survey with 33 university mentors and written surveys with 365 high school mentees were carried out between 2011-2013. Preliminary findings illustrate that for university mentors who are in their first year, the mentoring program fosters a sense of belonging with the university community as well increasing their academic self-efficacy and perceived value in education. A sense of belonging with the university in their first year is critical in shaping a student’s journey at university.