Youth Mentoring: Improving Programmes Through Research-Based Practice
Abstract
Despite growing interest in youth mentoring interventions, the base of evidence on which programme and policy decisions are made remains curiously thin. In this article, the evaluation literature is reviewed and areas that merit additional research are identified. Recent programme evaluations have shed important light onto some of the factors that increase the effectiveness of interventions. Nonetheless, few studies have delved into how variations in the characteristics of youth, mentors, relationships, and programmes affect outcomes. Greater collaboration between mentoring researchers and practitioners in design and implemention of programmes and evaluations, and the deployment of a broader range of research methods, would result in a more nuanced understanding of this intervention strategy.