A longitudinal evaluation of the benefits and challenges for mentors in an online peer mentoring scheme

The benefits of peer mentoring for students studying in Higher Education are well established. However, there is less research on the motivations, benefits and challenges for peer mentors working as volunteers, particularly in online distance learning settings. Here, we present the findings of a longitudinal, mixed methods study (2019–2021) on undergraduate Earth and Environmental Science modules at The Open University, UK. Peer mentors (students who had recently passed the module) completed one questionnaire before and another after a period of providing non-academic asynchronous support to students via a forum in a virtual learning environment. The questionnaires established the challenges and benefits for the mentors and were followed up by focus groups to enrich and triangulate the findings. Most mentors remained committed throughout, and identified a number of benefits and few, if any challenges. While mentors recognised and valued their skills development, there was uncertainty as to what extent they recognised employability skills. Further work is required to investigate this and help mentors appreciate and exploit the added value of developing employability skills. Finally, mentors’ expectations before starting were shown to be similar to their actual experience, comparable to face-to-face mentoring programmes at other Higher Education Institutions. Overall, the positive nature of mentors’ experiences is a contributory factor to the peer mentoring scheme’s sustainable success.