Community Based Participatory Research and Peer Mentorship in Higher Education: Supporting a Sense of Belonging Among Independent Students

Background and Purpose:

Students who enter higher education as independent students do not bring with them the financial and familial support that their dependent counterparts experience. When these needs are not met, their likelihood of graduating is decreased. One method that has shown promise for addressing support that promotes belonging and well-being is peer mentorship. The purpose of this study is to describe the experiences of independent college students who participated in a peer mentorship program on their sense of belonging within the university community. Furthermore, we sought to explore the impact of being a peer mentor and engaging in community based participatory research (CBPR) on students’ leadership development and sense of belonging. We hypothesized that student participation would result in an increased sense of belonging and build the leadership capacities of the peer mentors. While the evidence for the efficacy of peer mentorship is abundant, the inclusion of a CBPR framework in higher education has not been well explored. The following study presents data collected from students at a western, urban, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) who participated in a program designed for supporting financial, academic, and emotional needs of independent students

Methods:

A community based participatory research (CBPR) framework was implemented to design the peer mentorship model, develop the evaluation plan, complete data collection and analysis, and guide dissemination. We used a mixed methods design collecting both survey and listening tour data simultaneously regarding students’ support networks, sense of belonging, and perspectives of the peer mentoring model. Participants were independent students who participated in the program, a convenience method was used that included phone calls, emails, flyers, and word of mouth. Measures were developed by the CBPR team for this study and analysis included qualitative first and second cycle coding, as well as univariate analysis comparisons of student responses.

Results:

Key findings demonstrated that the use of a CBPR framework for development and evaluation of peer mentoring increased the mentor’s sense of belonging and increased engagement with their community. Similarly, mentees identified that peer mentorship increased their sense of belonging, particularly when their mentor had a shared identity, beyond that of student, that allowed for an unspoken understanding of lived experience.

Conclusions and Implications:

State universities have a duty to provide opportunities for those whose lives were disrupted by state intervention and challenges and work diligently to create student programming that creates a network of school-based, community-based, and family-based supports that interact to help students navigate college. Faculty and staff on university campuses should use methods of participatory research and evaluation, by giving our students a seat at the table regarding their own experiences we are teaching lifelong lessons about their value, their capacity for leadership, and that they belong in spaces that have not always welcomed them.