Empowering Tomorrow's Psychologists: Peer Mentorship for Psychology Students

Presenter

Matthew James Erti

Group Members

Alex M. Ray, Xander Steven Barney

Campus

Bridgewater State University

Sponsor

Stephanie Penley, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Bridgewater State University

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A85, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 5 (A81-A100) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The "hidden curriculum" of higher education is often defined as the unspoken norms, behaviors, and expectations unfamiliar to first-generation college students. The presence of this hidden knowledge motivated the piloting of a Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) designed specifically for psychology majors at BSU. Psychology is the most popular major at BSU, yet the high student-to-faculty ratio (19:1) typical of public universities limits faculty mentoring opportunities. Given the psychology major's popularity and varied career paths, establishing peer mentoring programs is crucial to support students' success in higher education and beyond (Collier, 2017). Our research group has hosted events and gathered data to refine the PMP for several semesters. We've received grant funding to conduct a focus group, aiming to understand students' preferences for an effective, appealing, and sustainable peer mentoring program. Our presentation highlights focus group planning and past events, including faculty panels and finals week de-stressing events, and discusses a pilot peer mentoring program integrated into the major's orientation course. Using feedback data from the faculty panel and de-stressing event, a series of independent sample t-tests were conducted on variables measuring students’ perceptions of increased connectedness to the major and knowledge of resources, careers, and the major itself. Results show that, as predicted, the faculty panel resulted in responses significantly higher. Interestingly, however, there was a similar increase in feelings of connectedness across both events. This research and its findings aim to inspire the implementation of similar programs across institutions, especially large public universities and offer insight into psychology students' needs. 

Keywords

Peer Mentoring, First generation students, Qualitative data, Education, Focus Group

Research Area

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

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