Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the options available to universities to employ mentoring by academics for the successful academic transition of students to university. Much has been written about the use of peer mentors to assist with the personal transition to university however students crave personal contact with their professors. We review the literature on mentoring; the social and institutional factors that impact upon first year attrition, the merits of mentoring interventions and the impact these have on a student’s sense of belonging and ultimately retention. We describe a pilot implementation of First STEP Mentoring in a large Australian business school.

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