Mentoring for motivation: a mixed-method study on a school-based mentoring program for secondary school students

Abstract

This study explores how school-based mentoring by university students influences secondary school students’ autonomous motivation. Combining a quasi-experimental study and interviews, 122 mentees (M age = 14.33, SD = .51) and a control group of 66 students (M age = 14.13, SD = 1.33) participated. Interviews were conducted with thirteen mentees, and repeated-measures analysis of covariance assessed motivation over time compared to the control group. The expected buffering effect of cross-age peer mentoring on secondary students’ autonomous motivation showed a non-significant trend in quantitative results. Qualitative analyses of interviews revealed positive impacts on learning, planning skills, future selves, and relationships. Despite non-significant quantitative findings, qualitative insights suggest mentoring’s varied positive effects on students’ motivation, emphasizing the need for further detailed exploration of school-based cross-age peer mentoring in secondary education.