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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. |
