Browsing by Subject "mentoring"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Changing Adolescent Healthy Living Behavior Through Mentoring
    (University of Minnesota Extension, 2014-10) Conway, Judith; Olson, Carrie Ann; Jeffers, Brent
    Research has shown that quality mentoring programs have been associated with helping young people navigate through life‘s experiences and challenges. Over the last 20 years, obesity among young people has been on the rise in the United States causing a concern for society, including the life challenge it creates for the young person. The obesity rise has been attributed to many factors including lack of personal role models that encourage exercise. Studies show that increased physical activity has consistently related to improvements in self-esteem, self-concept, depressive symptoms, and anxiety and stress (Calfas, K.J. and Taylor, WC., 1994). In southwest Minnesota, using mentoring as a program strategy to address this issue, a ten-week afterschool Science and Movement (S.A.M.) 4-H club was designed utilizing a new volunteer audience of college health science students as mentors. The objectives for youth mentee participants in this research study focused on healthy living, exposure to higher education, and community awareness. Program design from the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development partnered with Southwest Minnesota State University Health Science department, local family fitness center and local middle school. Qualitative evaluations and data conclude that program objectives were met. The implication of study shows that young people desired to make a healthy living behavior change based on the positive relationships built with their college mentor. Anecdotal evidence from mentor evaluations concludes that utilizing mentoring as a service-learning strategy became a powerful way to give deeper meaning to a college student‘s educational experience.
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    Evaluation of the Farm Beginnings Mentorship Program
    (2002) Fischbach, Melissa
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    High-Quality Mentoring in Sport: Gendered Experiences
    (2024-07) Riley, Leila
    The sport industry is male-dominated (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014; Evans & Pfister, 2021; Hancock et al., 2017) thus women are more likely to be mentored by men. There simply are not enough women in decision making positions to provide mentorship to all aspiring women (Bower, 2009; Hancock et al., 2017; Ragins, 1989). Given the likelihood men will more often mentor women there is a dearth of information about men mentoring women (MmW) relationships in the sport industry despite calls to further the phenomenon (Hancock et al., 2017). Various facets of the mentoring relationship are impacted when women are mentored by men such as the amount of psychosocial support received in the relationship (Picariello et al., 2021) or gender-blind coaching (Hancock et al., 2017). Hancock and colleagues (2017) indicate gender does impact opposing outcomes and contrasting feedback, but little is known about why. Further, the usage of mentoring as a tool for change in sport has been vastly underestimated by the limited outcomes studied in average mentoring relationships. Like any relationship, mentoring relationships are on a spectrum of quality (Ragins & Verbos, 2007). Despite the positive connotation of mentoring, it is not always beneficial and in some cases can even be harmful to the career trajectory of one or both parties (Hancock et al., 2017; Ragins, 2011). Current literature on mentoring women in sport has focused on the developmental activities and outcomes of mentorship in typical or average mentoring relationships (Bower, 2009; Hancock et al., 2017; Picariello et al., 2021) but has not yet considered the quality of mentoring relationships. High-quality mentoring can drastically change the personal and professional lives of mentor and protégé (Ragins, 2011) and has the potential to “transform individuals, groups, organizations, and communities” (Ragins & Kram, 2008, p. 2). With mentoring playing an important role in the career trajectory of women in sport leadership (Hancock et al., 2017; Picariello et al., 2021; Wells & Hancock, 2017), it is essential that high-quality mentoring is explored in order to better harness this potentially life-altering force and improve gender inequalities within sport organizations. The succession of studies within my dissertation was developed to explore this novel area of mentoring research in the sport industry and support the use of mentoring as an instrument positive change. Study I sought to understand the process of high-quality (HQ) men mentoring women (MmW) relationships in a sport context. Using a portion of Ragins (2007; 2011) theory of relational mentoring centered on the relational cultural aspects of mentoring, mentors and protégés provided an in-depth understanding of how they felt mentoring relationships are developed and maintained in MmW relationships within the context of sport. The findings of Study I showed mentors taking more passive approaches to developing mentoring relationships leaving it to luck or the protégé initiative, while protégés felt the progression to mentoring was natural after considering if the man was a viable mentor and what they wanted from the relationship. Both mentors and protégés felt communication was important, but protégé got more specific about the necessity of fluidity in relationships as life season and sport seasons change. While both groups felt that fostering connections was important, the value mentors placed on boundaries had the potential to create misalignment because protégés prized authenticity. Study II integrated Britton and Logan's (2008) synthesis of Gender in Organizations into the context of mentoring. Findings indicated mentoring is a gendered experience when MmW women in sport and serves to reproduce and enforce hegemonic masculinity in sport. Lastly, Study III applied the Mentoring Schema’s portion of Ragins (2011, 2007) relational theory of mentoring to understand how participants, given the results of Study I and II, conceptualized HQ MmW relationships in sport. The data revealed mentors and protégés felt HQ MmW relationships involved open communication, mutuality, and seeing each other holistically, at the dyadic level. While mentor’s and protégés described the traits of HQ mentors (i.e., empathetic, advocates, emotionally intelligent, and ally), only mentors discussed the traits of HQ protégés. The results of all studies are discussed in relation to literature relevant to their content. Together the studies proved mentoring is a gendered experience where gender impacts what mentors and protégé expect from each other and how relationships are managed. The finding showcased the need not only to help women make the most out of mentoring, but help men understand how their hidden ideologies directly hurt women in the workplace. Further, the results offered mentoring as an instrument of community change through its potential to mobilize men as gender allies. Theoretical, empirical, and practical implications were offered with limitations and future lines areas of inquire discussed.
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    Keys to Quality Youth Development
    (St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota Extension Service, 1999) Almquist, Patricia; Brekke, Barbara; Croymans, Sara R.; Fruechte, Kari; Matlack, Mary; McAndrews, Betty; Morreim, Patricia; Ogg-Graybill, Jolie; Piehl, Barbara; Walker, Joyce; Zurcher, Tom
    Outlines keys and the premise for relationship-building between youth and their mentors.
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    Reflections on the Development of Intercultural Competence: A Mixed Methods Study with Undergraduate Seniors at the University of California, Santa Cruz
    (2022-08) Swaim, Lisa
    This mixed-methods study sampled students in the transitional and intercultural orientation stages of the Intercultural Development Continuum, using the Intercultural Development Inventory, and then sought to understand each participant’s self-analysis of what intercultural competence development meant to them and what contributed most to their intercultural development. Student participants in this study acknowledged the importance to their intercultural development of the following university experiences and practices: curriculum, programs and organizations, living and learning communities, and leadership development programs. They highlighted the importance of intense shared experiences including high-impact educational practices such as short-term study abroad programs, field work, and internships. Students also credited mentorship and naturalistic engagement with others from different cultural backgrounds, both in childhood and within university life. Several students also discussed how their identity as part of a minoritized group within their community helped them to empathize with other minoritized individuals and reflect on intercultural learning more broadly. Those who scored in Acceptance and Adaptation had intense interpersonal experiences that forced them to engage and reflect in certain ways—even if they were uncomfortable. These experiences, however, were supported by mentors and guided reflection activities that allowed for students to sit with and learn from their discomfort. The lived experiences of students in this study demonstrate that students who scored further along the developmental continuum were characterized by their repeated seeking out challenging intercultural experiences, and a desire to engage with intercultural learning and growth. For students positioned further on the Intercultural Development Continuum, intercultural engagement was both challenging and fulfilling. The discovery of high-impact, high-intensity intercultural practices at home is important to intercultural development, as reported by students who score in transitional or intercultural positions on the Intercultural Development Continuum. Findings from this study may encourage educators to develop and encourage participation in these types of practices on and near U.S. campuses. These local high-impact, high-intensity program opportunities may broaden the availability of intercultural learning opportunities for all students, not just those who can afford to study, research, or intern abroad. These programs, however, appear to be most effective when they are interpersonally intense and provide support and mentoring for students.
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    Transforming the University of Minnesota: Preliminary Recommendations of the Task Force on Undergraduate Reform: Student Support
    (University of Minnesota, 2005-12-12) Maple, Kate; Wright, Robin
    To help achieve an outcomes-driven, student-centered approach to undergraduate education and support, we recommend that the University develop an approach that will provide campus-wide coordination and ensure accountability for student support programs and functions. This approach should also develop outcomes, gather data, and assess effectiveness, for all aspects of undergraduate education, support, and service. Together with data relevant to other facets of the University’s mission, this assessment plan and resulting data should drive the University’s decisions about funding, continuation of current programs, development of new programs, assignment of space, new construction, hiring, and other resources.