WHAT ABOUT US? THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF MENTORS WHO MENTOR AT-RISK YOUTH

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of mentors who mentor at-risk youth. Mentoring relationships have begun to surface in many sectors including professional, residential, and educational. The current research regarding mentorship presents a critical imbalance of focus, highlighting primarily the experiences of mentee participants. This can lead to a lack of understanding regarding the experiences of mentors who mentor at-risk youth. By highlighting the shared phenomenon of those who mentor at-risk youth, mentor satisfaction, mentoring practices, mentor enjoyment, and relationship longevity could improve. The social constructivism theoretical framework was utilized to understand how the experiences of mentors shaped the realms of the reality of the phenomenon. The study included 7 participants who engaged in semi-structured interviews utilizing Otter.ai technology. The transcripts collected from the interview data was used to extract rich and robust information about the lived experience of participants. Findings of the study revealed four themes: self-development, challenges faced, benefits experienced, and mentor contributions. The findings of this study suggested that mentors who mentor at-risk feel accomplished and fulfilled by their work even in the face of ample challenges. The findings also revealed that although mentor contributions to the mentoring relationship are vast, mentors also experience a sense of self-development, as well as personal benefits.