Peer Mentor Program Strategy for Improvement in First-Year Student Retention

Abstract

This work studyies students in a small, private school in the Midwest that recently developed a peer mentoring program. The goal of the program is to improve retention among first-year engineering students by forming a strong sense of community within the school. Each individual peer mentoring group was composed of a single peer mentor guiding a small cohort of students. Once paired with a mentor, the mentees were strongly encouraged to engage in weekly interactions, either through attendance at a one-hour event or by maintaining regular communication with their mentor. With the goal of improving community bonds amongst first-year students, these events were typically fun, social events: meals together, game nights, sporting events, and so on. This arrangement provided first-year students with the opportunity to develop strong connections with peers and upper-class students, enabling them to ask questions they might not feel as comfortable posing to professors. In the academic year immediately following the initiation of the peer mentor program (Fall 2021 - Fall 2022), this program saw 14.5% points increase in overall first-year to second-year retention. This paper investigates changes in retention numbers at various points in time to better understand the success of this program and excavate its relevance for other programs seeking to implement peer mentoring. In addition to quantitative data, we gathered qualitative, open-ended survey data from mentees on how they feel the program helped them. This helps to understand experiences from the students’ perspectives. Additionally, metrics were analyzed to help optimize mentee attendance and participation in the peer mentor events.