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Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 1

CARES: Mentoring through University Outreach

  • Amy Aldous Bergerson
  • Kari K. Petersen
Submitted
July 22, 2010
Published
2010-07-22

Abstract

This study examined whether a university outreach program featuring peer mentoring and offering a social support network can impact college-going aspirations. Study participants were middle school students of color and low SES students and their university student mentors. Purposeful selection was
used to identify six mentors and six protégés and match them by race/ethnicity. The program involved weekly mentoring sessions and four campus visits. At the end of the CARES project, protégés expressed changes in postsecondary aspirations, attitudes about learning, educational plans, and ability to overcome negative educational socialization. Mentors experienced growth and motivation as a result of working with protégés. The bidirectional
nature of the program’s impact on mentors and protégés is highlighted. America’s racial and ethnic minorities have been and continue to be grossly underrepresented in higher education and in almost all occupational fields that require a college education. (Attinasi 1989, 247)