Purpose

Student mental well-being is a matter of increasing concern on university campuses around the world. Social, psychological, academic and career aspects of graduate learning are enriched through peer mentorship. Peer-mentoring experiences and the impacts of these relationships on the mental well-being of graduate students remain underexplored in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to explore how engagement in formal and informal peer mentorship, as described by students across four academic disciplines, impacts the social connectedness and well-being of graduate students.

Design/methodology/approach

A convergent mixed methods research design was used, with quantitative and qualitative data gathered in parallel to gain a comprehensive, corroborated and integrated understanding of graduate students’ perspectives and experiences with peer mentorship. Online survey and interview data were collected from graduate thesis-based master’s EdD and PhD students in education, medicine, nursing and social work. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

Findings

The authors found a commonality of graduate student experiences across disciplines with respect to the diverse psychosocial impacts of graduate peer mentorship. Peer-mentoring relationships offered mentees emotional support, motivation and a sense of community and offered mentors opportunities for self-development and gratification.

Originality/value

This research is unique in its in-depth exploration of the interdisciplinary perspectives and experiences of graduate students from Education, Nursing, Medicine and Social Work. While further research is needed to explore the implementation of structural approaches to support the development of peer-mentoring relationships in graduate education, the multidisciplinary focus and depth and breadth of this inquiry suggest the potential transferability of the study findings to other disciplines and academic settings. The findings from this study further highlight the need for strategic activation of existing program resources to foster greater connectedness and well-being among graduate students.

中文翻译：

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跨四个研究学科对研究生同伴指导、社会联系和幸福感的探索

目的

学生心理健康是世界各地大学校园日益关注的问题。通过同伴指导，研究生学习的社会、心理、学术和职业方面得到了丰富。同伴指导经验以及这些关系对研究生心理健康的影响在教与学的学术研究中仍未得到充分探索。本研究的目的是探讨四个学科的学生所描述的正式和非正式同伴指导的参与如何影响研究生的社会联系和福祉。

设计/方法/方法

使用聚合混合方法研究设计，同时收集定量和定性数据，以获得对研究生的观点和同伴指导经验的全面、确凿和综合的理解。在线调查和访谈数据是从教育、医学、护理和社会工作领域的硕士研究生和博士生中收集的。使用描述性统计和专题分析对数据进行分析。

发现

作者发现，在研究生同伴指导的不同心理社会影响方面，跨学科的研究生经历具有共性。同伴指导关系为学员提供了情感支持、动力和社区意识，并为导师提供了自我发展和满足的机会。

原创性/价值

这项研究的独特之处在于，它深入探索了教育、护理、医学和社会工作研究生的跨学科观点和经验。虽然需要进一步的研究来探索结构方法的实施以支持研究生教育中同伴指导关系的发展，但这项调查的多学科重点和深度和广度表明研究结果具有潜在的可转移性到其他学科和学术环境。这项研究的结果进一步强调了战略性激活现有项目资源的必要性，以促进研究生之间的联系和福祉。