A CYCLE OF RETENTION Peer Mentors' Accounts of Active Engagement and Agency

Abstract

Retention initiatives have evolved in an effort to address the needs of rapidly diversifying student populations. Recent literature on reten- tion programs reflects this evolution and high- lights the importance of building inclusive campus communities to increase student reten- tion (Kinzie & Schuh, 2008; Locks, Hurtado, Bowman & Oseguera, 2008). One way higher education institutions work toward creating inclusive campus communities is through peer mentoring programs, which are particularly impactful for students of color (Haring & Free- man, 1999; Lee, 1999), and whose demand is stronger than ever (Williams, 2011). While researchers have documented the positive influences of peer mentor relationships on mentees (Astin, 1996; Crisp, 2008; Harmon, 2006; Tinto, 1975), little research has focused on the influence of the peer mentoring role on students who serve as mentors (Wawrzynski, L°Conte, & Straker, 2011). The few existing studies that have examined the influence of the mentoring role on peer mentors have found the effects of peer mentoring to be positive (Kiyama & Luca, 2013; Monte, Sleeman, & Hein, 2007; Wawrzynski et al., 2011). Some of these positive effects include gaining addi- tional knowledge about academic subjects and developing new academic success skills (Wil- liams, 2011). Two studies in particular have begun to examine the impact of retention pro- grams on student mentors and subsequent ben- efits in terms of social, emotional, and academic gains (Good, Halpin, & Halpin, 2000; Harmon, 2006). The National Peer Edu- cator Study found that peer mentors experi- enced gains in practical competence, intra and interpersonal outcomes, and knowledge acqui- sition (Wawrzynski et al., 2011). What remains is a gap in understanding how struc- tured peer mentor experiences play a role in undergraduate student engagement and college retention.The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of college students who are employed as peer mentors in a summer bridge program. Although summer bridge programs have existed since the 1960s, with institutions allotting substantial resources to enhance stu- dent participation and retention success, little research of these programs has been conducted (Santa Rita & Bacote, 1997; Strayhorn, 2011; Walpole et al., 2008). Specifically, Strayhorn (2011) notes that research on summer bridge programs rarely examines the academic and social benefits of economically disadvantaged ethnic minorities who participate in such pro- grams (p. 146). We argue that insufficient research is particularly lacking when seeking to understand the academic and social benefits that student staff (i.e., peer mentors) employed by such programs experience. This study is guided by the following research question: How does engagement in a structured peer mentor role influence students' academic development, social engagement, and reten- tion? The significance of this study rests in the framing of how retention is understood. This study is one of the first that seeks to understand student development and retention of the peer mentor as opposed to the mentee, with specific attention focused on a peer mentor role struc- tured within a summer bridge program. Find- ings suggest that the mentoring role facilitates opportunities for peer mentors to develop awareness of the college environment and to play a more active role in their own retention process. This study draws conceptually from an adapted version of the comprehensive model of influences on student learning and persistence (Reason, 2009).REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL MODELIt is vital for students to be engaged academi- cally and socially with their campus (Astin, 1984; Tinto, 1975, 1993). Early retention research (see Astin, 1984; Bean, 1980, 1983; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Tinto, 1975, 1993) primarily focused on how students inte- grated themselves into their environment, tak- ing into account a variety of personal and institutional characteristics with two domains of integration most often referred to with respect to student retention-navigation of social and academic networks. …