ERIC Number: EJ1104439
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1918-2902
EISSN: N/A
Baccalaureate Accounting Student Mentors' Social Representations of Their Mentorship Experiences
Roy, Vicky; Brown, Patricia A.
Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, v7 n1 Article 6 2016
Mentorship has been shown to enhance engagement, participation, and understanding of the workplace through the development of soft-skills and leadership capacity. This research identifies and describes the social representations of second and third year Baccalaureate accounting students relating to their experiences in mentoring first year accounting students. We used an exploratory research method based on a qualitative analysis of 34 semi-structured interviews. Our research intends to answer these question: To what extent is a mandatory Student Peer Mentorship Project useful for second and third year Baccalaureate accounting students in developing their interpersonal and communication skills and leadership capacity?; and How can this experience be transferable to the workplace? The main results show that the mentoring experience has provided Baccalaureate students' with the opportunity to develop their soft-skills, both interpersonal and communication skills, and has improved their leadership capacity. They took diverse actions to motivate their mentees to succeed, drawing on their own past experience of the school, program, courses, and their professors. They provided mentees with information on what to expect in the first semester in their courses as well as where, how, and when to study. These students mentioned that their intrinsic motivation, their personal satisfaction, and their leadership capacity had increased by helping and supporting their mentees. Also, they felt that they improved their communication skills through the ability to provide information and meet and support new accounting students. Finally, their experience seems as valuable for them as for their mentees and is transferable to the workplace.
Descriptors: Accounting, Mentors, Semi Structured Interviews, Undergraduate Students, Student Attitudes, Qualitative Research, Interpersonal Competence, Communication Skills, Skill Development, Transfer of Training, Student Motivation, Work Environment, Leadership, Foreign Countries
University of Western Ontario and Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Mills Memorial Library Room 504, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L6, Canada. Tel: 905-525-9140; e-mail: info@cjsotl-rcacea.ca; Web site: http://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A