Assessing an Educational Mentorship Program in an Urban Context

47 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2016

See all articles by Clio Andris

Clio Andris

The Pennsylvania State University

Lisa Adler

Monte del Sol Charter School

Chloe Atwater

Arizona State University (ASU)

Jeremy Van Cleve

University of Kentucky

James O'Dwyer

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Date Written: July 18, 2016

Abstract

Mentorships are important relationships that pair youth with more experienced members of the community. Mentorships facilitated by organizations often connect two community members who are unlikely to meet by happenstance, thus increasing social capital and aiding community development.

Yet, difficulties in measuring how formal mentorships improve a city’s social capital and participant welfare might dissuade communities from investing in such programs. We describe a mixed-methods approach for measuring the impact of mentorship programs using a case study in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We survey participants and analyze differences between mentor and protégé neighborhoods using U.S. Census data in a Geographic Information System.

We find that participants report increases in social capital indicators including connections between individuals with socio-economic differences. However, Census data indicate that mentors and protégés have relatively few socio-economic differences in their neighborhoods. This divergence emphasizes the importance of measuring social capital in an urban and spatial context.

Keywords: Youth, school-based mentorships, Santa Fe, New Mexico, social capital, geography

Suggested Citation

Andris, Clio and Adler, Lisa and Atwater, Chloe and Van Cleve, Jeremy and O'Dwyer, James, Assessing an Educational Mentorship Program in an Urban Context (July 18, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2811315 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2811315

Clio Andris (Contact Author)

The Pennsylvania State University ( email )

302 Walker Building
University Park, PA Pennsylvania 16802
United States

Lisa Adler

Monte del Sol Charter School ( email )

4157 Walking Rain Rd
Santa Fe, NM 87507
United States

Chloe Atwater

Arizona State University (ASU) ( email )

Farmer Building 440G PO Box 872011
Tempe, AZ 85287
United States

Jeremy Van Cleve

University of Kentucky ( email )

Lexington, KY 40506
United States

HOME PAGE: http://vancleve.theoretical.bio

James O'Dwyer

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( email )

601 E John St
Champaign, IL Champaign 61820
United States

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