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Balaraman, A., Maokosy, S., Slaton, L., Cardona, R., Maokosy, P. & Gaitan, N.
Sustaining mentoring communities of practice. The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, 9(2), 28-34 (2025).
https://doi.org/10.62935/d1987u
| Citation (APA): |
Balaraman, A., Maokosy, S., Slaton, L., Cardona, R., Maokosy, P. & Gaitan, N. (2025). Integrating Near-peer Mentoring into California Community Colleges to Build Social Capital. The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, 9(2), 28-34. https://doi.org/10.62935/d1987u |
Successful careers depend on skills, occupationl identity, and social capital, yet higher education often neglects social capital due to its complexity and cost. This NSF-funded study evaluated a mentoring and technology program at five California community colleges, targeting first-generation and underrepresented students. The intervention, which paired near-peer mentoring with technology, was assessed for its impact on self-efficacy, occupational identity, and access. Surveys revealed consistent gains in self-efficacy and skills (3–7%) after 8-hour mentoring sessions. Findings support embedding mentoring within courses to boost completion rates and enhance both academic and non-academic outcomes.
Keywords: Social capital, mentoring, community college, self-efficacy, occupational identity
Acknowledgement: This research was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Directorate of Translational Research and Technology Innovations Program of deep technologies—discoveries in fundamental science and engineering. Epixego’s Inc.’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) - based deep technology was part of this NationalAcademies of Sciences (NSF) research project.
