“In helping my mentee, I grew too”. A qualitative study of socio-emotional growth among mentors in India

ENG- This thesis explores the socio-emotional development of college student mentors participating in a school-based mentoring (SBM) program in India. Situated within the broader challenges of educational inequity, urban-rural divides, and the underutilization of mentoring in Indian education, the study seeks to understand how college student mentors practice and develop socio-emotional skills—such as empathy, self-regulation, social awareness, and humility—within their mentoring relationships. Guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Bandura’s social learning theory, the research adopts a qualitative case study design and is grounded in a constructivist epistemology. The thesis comprises three interconnected studies: the first examines mentors' perceptions of power and their role execution styles; the second explores how humility is understood and practiced by mentors as a leadership quality; and the third investigates how mentors' perceptions of effective mentoring qualities evolve over time. Data were gathered from seventeen college student mentors through interviews, focus groups, field notes, and reflective memos, and analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. Findings reveal that mentors actively engage in processes of self-reflection and emotional regulation to navigate complex relational dynamics. Over time, they cultivate a more nuanced understanding of power, humility, and emotional responsibility within the mentoring dyad. These socio-emotional competencies were found to be central to fostering equitable, reciprocal, and responsive relationships with mentees. Beyond contributing to the limited body of research on mentor development in non-Western, collectivist contexts, this study offers practical insights for higher education institutions, policy makers, and mentoring program designers. It highlights the transformative potential of mentoring not only for mentees but also for mentors—positioning SBM programs as meaningful platforms for youth development, educational partnership, and the cultivation of emotionally intelligent leadership in India