Evaluating a near-peer mentoring model in a vertical studio: a mixed-methods case study with mentee and mentor perspectives

Design studio education relies not only on project production but also on peer-mediated and relational forms of learning. Although near-peer mentoring is widely discussed in higher education, there is limited mixed-methods evidence combining mentee perceptions with mentor accounts of how support is enacted in studio-based contexts. This study examines a structured near-peer mentoring model embedded in a vertical studio in an undergraduate interior architecture program. A convergent mixed-methods case study was conducted with 48 second-year mentees and 12 fourth-year mentors at one institution. Quantitative data came from a 15-item evaluative questionnaire, while qualitative data came from mentee written responses and mentor reflective reports. Findings showed consistently positive mentee perceptions across mentoring support, perceived learning gains, and satisfaction/belonging. Cross-perspective analysis identified psychological safety, feedback-based scaffolding, prioritization, and encouragement as enabling mechanisms, while unplanned contact, unequal access, noisy studio conditions, and ambiguity around mentoring boundaries emerged as key constraints. Rather than demonstrating general effects of near-peer mentoring, the study offers a context-bound account of how one vertical studio implementation was experienced by mentees and enacted by mentors.