​Non-academic mentors do not only help newcomer students adapt to campus life, but also make universities more inclusive.

This is the view of Dr Jerome Joorst from the Department of Education Policy Studies at Stellenbosch University (SU).

Joorst conducted research on how non-academic mentors support newcomer students socially, psychologically and emotionally to be successful in their studies. His research findings were recently published on LitNet Academic.

Joorst focused specifically on SU's SciMathUS programme. This successful year-long bridging programme in science and mathematics offers previously disadvantaged students who have already passed matric, a second opportunity to improve their performance in these subjects in order to gain university admission. These students receive a year of free university accommodation, as well as non-academic mentorship.

Joorst points out that some students (mostly generic black students) arrive at universities “unprepared" for various reasons and struggle to master their courses. In addition, the transition from school and home to university is difficult for many.

However, there are ways to help these students, he says.

“Academic and non-academic mentors (especially those with similar experiences as the mentees) can make an important contribution here. The former works hard to prepare the students scholastically, while the latter further supports them in social, psychological and emotional areas. In this way, they help build a bridge between the mentees' capital (qualities) and habitus (way of doing, thinking and being) on the one hand and the expectations at university on the other."

According to Joorst, the forms of capital that universities consider valuable are often not the same as those with which students arrive at the institutions.

“Students whose capital and habitus are in agreement with that of the university will usually do better and adapt more easily to campus life. They feel like the proverbial 'fish in the water', while students whose capital and habitus do not exactly match those of the university feel less at home.

“Non-academic mentors make the best of the diverse forms of capital that students bring with them in order to give them a richer experience. In this way, they also help to create a more inclusive student community."

“Furthermore, non-academic mentors work with the missing forms of capital of their mentees to not only mediate their access to the university, but also to help them understand that their forms of capital are important and valued. In this way, the mentors help these students to navigate their way through university."

Joorst says his research has shown that non-academic or 'informal' mentors not only facilitate the engagement of students from marginalised environments at SU, but also help the institution to broaden its knowledge about alternative ways of mentoring. This mentorship is 'informal' because the SciMathUS mentors are not part of SU's formal mentorship programme, but function alongside the formal structures.

“The SciMathUS mentors' emotional investment in the mentees – the close association with their fears and anxieties, but also their expectations and dreams – helps the newcomers to build a set of internal resources, social skills and cultural strategies (additional capital) that help them to find their feet in a strange environment and to thrive."

Joorst believes that the mentors' mentoring practices and their success are largely based on their own experiences as mentees in the programme, and the survival strategies that they themselves have learned over time.

“They can draw from their own experience and be actively involved in the development and adaptation of their mentees while staying in the SciMathUS residence, precisely because they know what integration and navigation challenges the new students face."

According to Joorst, higher education institutions should be much more sensitive to the fact that inequalities in our school system lead to most students from marginalised communities arriving at universities with a habitus and forms of capital that make it difficult for them to easily adapt to their new environment.

“In order to facilitate students' integration into universities and for the successful navigation of campus life, and to make tertiary institutions more welcoming, receptive and diverse, we should move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and look for diverse and more inclusive approaches with a greater sense urgency."

• Source: Joorst, J 2021. Die rol van nie-akademiese mentorskap om studente uit gemarginaliseerde groepe by 'n universiteit te laat inskakel – 'n gevallestudie. LitNet Akademies 18/1: 432-449.

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES ONLY

Dr Jerome Joorst

Department Education Policy Studies

Faculty of Education

Stellenbosch University

Tel: 021 808 2398

Email: jpjoorst@sun.ac.za

ISSUED BY

Martin Viljoen

Manager: Media

Corporate Communication and Marketing

Stellenbosch University

Tel: 021 808 4921

Email: viljoenm@sun.ac.za

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