Putting school-based mentors' experience into context: a mixed-methods cross-country comparison
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education
ISSN: 2046-6854
Article publication date: 29 May 2023
Issue publication date: 2 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Cross-national research on cultural differences can help understand what drives, in differing contexts, mentors' commitment to school-based mentoring programs. This comparative study aims to explore whether adult volunteers, from Scotland and Italy, experience being mentors of vulnerable youth differently.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from interviews (n = 20) and questionnaires (n = 114) were used to test hypotheses concerning volunteer mentors' perceptions of their role and abilities, as well as motives for participation. According to cross-cultural theories, Scottish mentors should be more likely to identify mentoring with establishing friendly relationships with mentees and promoting youth self-empowerment. They should also be more self-confident and value-driven as volunteers.
Findings
Despite the mixed support for the assumptions concerning how the mentor role is conceived, Scottish mentors were less likely than Italians to doubt their abilities and more driven by other-focused and generative concerns.
Originality/value
The study reveals significant variations in how volunteers from countries featuring different welfare regimes and cultural orientations experience mentoring. The research advances the understanding of how culturally sensitive approaches can foster mentors' engagement.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge all the mentors who took part in this piece of research for the enthusiasm and generosity with which they made themselves available for providing information for the study. The authors would also like to thank the staff of MCR Pathways and Società Umanitaria – and particularly, but not exclusively, Claire O'Hara, Kirsty Brennan and Marzia Zanolari – for the invaluable support in planning and coordinating the collection of data.
Citation
Bufali, M.V., Morton, A. and Connelly, G. (2023), "Putting school-based mentors' experience into context: a mixed-methods cross-country comparison", International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 251-266. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-09-2022-0080
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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