Mentoring and dialogue relate to student growth

Updated Nov 06, 2026

Feeling accepted, finding a mentor and taking part in university life deserve separate questions in student feedback. A study by Michael M. Prinzing and Juliette L. Ratchford helps explain why.

What the researchers found

The researchers analysed 473,627 undergraduates at 414 US colleges and universities, using surveys collected between 2006 and 2021. They compared year groups, adjusting for students’ recalled pre-university characteristics and other background factors. The outcome combined self-reported characteristics including resilience, hope, collaboration and civic orientation.

Later-year students scored higher, with similar patterns across survey waves. In an exploratory analysis, mentoring, organisational involvement and discussion of social and cultural issues were associated with larger increases across year groups.

Belonging showed a different pattern: a positive association with scores at the first-year reference point, alongside a shallower increase across year groups. Among the institutional characteristics tested, selectivity alone was significantly associated with differences in estimated growth, with smaller increases at more selective institutions.

Ask about the experiences behind engagement

For student experience teams, our practical recommendation is to ask about acceptance, advice, participation and different perspectives separately. A broad engagement question can make it difficult to decide which experience needs attention. More specific prompts could include:

• Where do you turn for useful advice about your studies or university life?
• What helps you join activities, and what gets in the way?
• When have you had space to discuss a different perspective with other students?
• What helps you feel accepted on your course?

Choose prompts with students and test whether the wording makes sense in the setting where you will use it. Our belonging and support reading pathway connects this question to research on peer relationships, support and participation.

Keep mixed experiences visible in comments

When reviewing responses, allow more than one experience to sit within the same account. For example, a student might describe a welcoming course and difficulty joining activities, or useful mentoring alongside limited peer contact. Keeping both parts gives the responsible team a clearer issue to investigate.

Agree category definitions and review ambiguous examples together. The student feedback analysis glossary can help establish shared language; the governance checklist covers who reviews interpretations and approves reporting.

Keep the source question and collection period with each theme so that colleagues can understand the context. Our briefing on connecting survey comments with decisions develops this handover.

Turn a theme into a question for follow-up

If feedback prompts a change to mentoring or participation opportunities, agree how students will help review it. Check who can access the opportunity, what participants find useful and what prevents others from taking part. Name the team responsible for the response and set a date to revisit it with students. This makes the next round of feedback a way to assess the change they helped shape.

References

Paper source: Michael M. Prinzing and Juliette L. Ratchford. “Do students experience character growth during higher education? Evidence from a large, multi-institutional study”. Higher Education, published online 2 November 2026. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-026-01793-0.