First-year college students who experience financial or social hardship due to their socioeconomic status or background can be considered disadvantaged in higher learning settings. These students face hurdles that make them more likely to drop out of college than more privileged students.
Disadvantaged college students may be the first in their families to attain higher education. For this reason, they may not be aware of important aspects of college life, including applying for financial aid and registering for specific courses.
They are also more likely to experience food insecurity or unstable housing while enrolled in school. Many of these students may need to work to support themselves, which can make it difficult to meet their academic responsibilities.
Disadvantaged students may also have a hard time relating to their classmates or knowing where to go for help. These barriers can have long-term consequences. First-generation college graduates earn considerably less than their peers. They also carry higher student loan debts and are more likely to default on their loans.
Despite these obstacles, a college degree is still one of the most viable ways to break cyclical poverty. Over a lifetime, college graduates can earn nearly a million dollars more than individuals who only have high school diplomas.
For this reason, many schools have created mentorship programs designed to address the issues these students face, reduce attrition, and boost graduation rates.
Mentorship works by pairing an incoming student with an older student or young adult, usually from the same socio-economic background. The mentor serves as a support system and can advise the student as they transition from high school to college.
Since mentors have also navigated college as disadvantaged students, mentees can learn from their experience. The mentor can also help find solutions to questions that others in the mentee’s life may be unable to answer.
A well-implemented mentorship program has significant benefits. Studies have shown that college students from low-income backgrounds have higher levels of self-confidence after being paired with a mentor. Mentorship programs can also encourage students to enter fields where people from disadvantaged backgrounds are underrepresented, such as engineering, computer science, and technology.
Mentors also pass along soft skills that can help mentees achieve success academically and beyond. Students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds may not have developed the socio-emotional skills needed to thrive in college. Mentors can serve as role models and give students a new blueprint for how to manage their responsibilities and handle interactions with others.
The benefits increase when the mentoring relationship lasts several years and the participants meet on a consistent basis. The mentor should attempt to build a rapport with their mentee and ensure that the relationship is positive, open, and accepting.
Mentorship programs are also effective at increasing the likelihood that a disadvantaged student will attend college in the first place. Studies have shown that students from lower-income backgrounds have a lower chance of enrolling in college than their wealthier peers, even if they have the same grade point average. This is because these students may not have the knowledge or resources needed to complete the complex applications for standardized tests or financial aid. Many mentorship programs target promising high school juniors and seniors and set them on a track to earning a college education.
