Chapter 15: Strengths-Based Peer Mentoring: Collectivist Principles in Action

Minority-serving institutions (MSI) have a unique responsibility to implement higher education best practices (Harper & Harris , 2012; Kuh, 2008; Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Schmidt, Piontkowski, Raque-Bogdan, & Schaefer Ziemer, 2014) to positively impact retention, performance, and graduation of first-generation students and racially, ethnically, and culturally underrepresented students. According to Saenz, Hurtado, Barrera, Wolf, and Yeung (2007), peer mentoring is a direct intervention designed to connect students to the institution by pairing first and second-year students with upper-division students who can serve as the pivot point between student retention and attrition.

The key component that MSIs can add to the development of peer mentoring programs is to frame those programs as strengths-based leadership development initiatives grounded in perspectives of critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) and feminist theory (Anzaldua, 1987; Crenshaw, 1989; hooks, 1981, 1984), and framed in collectivist practices that value personal narratives and validation of experiences to increase trust and connection (Friedrich et al., 2014; Rendón, 2006). The High Potential (HP) program advances academic excellence and leadership development by focusing on student strengths and resiliency to develop intercultural understanding and communication skills necessary to function effectively in a global economy and society. The HP program at Saint Mary’s College of California, a Hispanic serving institution (HSI), has altered the philosophy of its peer mentoring program to focus on these essential constructs to positively impact the retention, performance, and graduation of first generations students who often descend from collectivist cultures.