Abstract

Near-peer mentoring has been used within Higher Education settings for
several years to support students through their transition from secondary to
tertiary education. The goals of mentorship centre around support,
development, and retention of students who themselves feel satisfied, fully
engaged in their learning environment and are socially responsible. Having a
more experienced mentor (near-peer) with lived experience can help guide
and engage mentees providing measurable benefits to both, with mentees
gaining a greater degree of social support and insight into their future learning
requirements to help navigate them through their academic journey, and
mentors enhancing their interpersonal skills such as communication, listening,
networking and leadership. With the growing evidence that near-peer
mentoring benefits all involved, it is perhaps unsurprising it is becoming
commonplace in Higher Education. However, for these benefits to be
recognised it is essential that behind the scenes there are dedicated staff who
develop and support the peer mentoring programme ensuring they are fit for
purpose. The following tips draw on experience of near-peer mentoring within
a medical education setting but are considered applicable and transferable to
other Higher Education programmes. Fundamental to all successful near-peer
mentoring schemes should be clearly defined processes for selection, training
(Tips 1-4) and programme implementation (Tips 5-9). Continuous reflection,
improvement, and the importance of near-peer mentor recognition (Tip 10)
should also be at the forefront of any near-peer mentoring scheme.