Adults Who Act as Mentors

While any adult can act as a youth mentor, a 2005 national survey found some differences between adults who participated in youth mentoring and those who did not.¹

Age

• Young adults ages 18 to 24 and middle-aged adults ages 35 to 54 had the highest rates for mentoring young people.
• Adults 65 and over were the least likely group to mentor young people.

Education and Employment

• Adults with higher levels of education are more likely to become mentors than adults with high school diplomas or less.
• Thirty-five percent of adults who had received a post-graduate degree indicated that they participated in mentoring, compared to 26 percent of adults who received a high-school education or less.
• Thirty-seven percent of adults who worked part time reported that they participated in mentoring youth, compared to 32 percent of adults working full time and 22 percent of adults who were unemployed.

Sex

• In 2002, women reported that they participated in mentoring significantly more than men.
• From 2002-2005, the number of women participating in mentoring declined, while the number of men participating in mentoring remained relatively steady. This resulted in a higher percentage of men (31 percent) reporting that they participated in mentoring in 2005 than women (27 percent).

Key Attributes

Research and practice suggests key attributes that have been associated with successful mentors and should be considered during the matching of mentors and mentees.² These are

• the ability to listen and to offer friendship, guidance, and encouragement to a young person;³
• a genuine desire to be involved and help youth;
• respect for youth and their cultures and backgrounds;⁴
• empathy and authenticity;⁵
• compatible personalities, interests, and expectations;⁶
• prior experience in helping roles or occupations;⁷
• flexibility and openness; and
• the ability to see solutions and opportunities and help youth to see them as well.⁸

References