Mentoring for access, retention, and student success: A profile of models developed by Irish higher education institutions

Brady, Bernadine, Duffy, Lorraine, Keenaghan, Celia, Morrissey, Seamus, Flynn, Paul, & Crosse, Rosemary. Mentoring for access, retention, and student success: a profile of models developed by Irish higher education institutions. Irish Educational Studies, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2025.2568446

Abstract

Equity of access to higher education is a global objective, with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 setting a target of ‘equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university’ by 2030 (UN 2015). In Ireland and internationally, mentoring has emerged as a key intervention to support students in accessing, participating, and progressing in their journey to and through higher education. In recent years, innovative approaches have been developed in a range of settings but there can be confusion regarding the aims and operating models of the various initiatives developed. The aim of this paper is to profile the key features of mentoring initiatives for access, retention and student success supported by Higher Education Institutions in an Irish context and to identify associated benefits and challenges. The paper draws on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 23 stakeholders engaged with the West-North-West cluster, a partnership between Atlantic Technological University and the University of Galway.

Funder

Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group and Routledge

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND

cbn

Collections

The Child and Family Research Centre (Scholarly Articles)