[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-205969-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-205969-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","cross-age-mentoring-evaluation-in-psychology-teaching-review","Cross-age Mentoring Evaluation in Psychology Teaching Review","","An evaluation of the first phase of a cross-age mentoring action research project addresses two psychology higher-education challenges: supporting A-level entry students’ transition and improving undergraduate graduates’ employability. Eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level pupils across two schools. Mentors showed significant gains in two psychological literacies (not self-esteem), high satisfaction, and improved communication. Mentees’ attitudes, self-efficacy, and self-esteem did not significantly outperform non-mentored pupils, though they reported clearer university insight, better psychology knowledge, and stronger academic skills. Adaptations include aligning support with the psychology A-level curriculum and increasing mentor-to-school staff communication.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/cross-age-mentoring-evaluation-in-psychology-teaching-review/205969/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/cross-age-mentoring-evaluation-in-psychology-teaching-review/205969.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"supergirl","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",21,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What two challenges does the project focus on in psychology higher education?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Supporting entry students’ transition into degree study and supporting graduates’ transition into employment.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How was cross-age mentoring implemented in the first project phase?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level psychology pupils across two schools.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What were the main outcomes for mentors and mentees?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Mentors showed significant increases in two of nine psychological literacies and high satisfaction, with improved communication skills. Mentees did not show significant improvement over non-mentored pupils in attitudes, self-efficacy, or self-esteem, but reported benefits such as greater insight into university and gains in academic skills.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},205969,1788587118,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":109,"preview_page_count":4},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Cross-age mentoring to support A-level pupils’ transition into Higher Education and undergraduate students’ employability  \nAlana I. James  \nTwo challenges identified for psychology higher education are supporting entry students ’ transition, and supporting graduates ’ transition into employment. The evaluation of the first phase of a cross-age mentoring action research project targeting these issues is presented; eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level psychology pupils in two schools. Mentors showed significant increases in two of nine psychological literacies, in self-efficacy but not self-esteem, were highly satisfied with the experience, and reported benefits including enhanced communication skills. Mentees did not improve relative to pupils who were not mentored on attitudes towards higher education, self-efficacy or self-esteem, though reported benefits included enhanced insight into going to university, greater knowledge of psychology, and gains in academic skills. Mentees in one school were highly satisfied, with greater variation in the second. Adaptations identified for the next project iteration include greater focus upon the psychology A-level curriculum, and increased communication between mentors and school staff.  \nKeywords: Mentoring; transition; employability; widening participation; action research.  \nIntroduction  \nTWO KEY CHALLENGES within higher  \neducation (HE) concern transition: supporting new students transitioning into degree level study; and supporting the transition of graduates into employment.  \nThis paper presents the evaluation of the first phase of an action research project using cross-age mentoring to target both preparing A-level pupils for a successful transition into studying psychology at university, and developing the employability of current psychology undergraduates.  \nTransition into HE  \nStudents entering HE have access to new opportunities but also face challenges. Successful transition involves navigating anew learning environment, developing new academic skills, social integration, and for some new students it will also involve developing life skills necessary for independent living. Retention of new learners has been linked to both academic and social integration (e.g. Black & MacKenzie, 2008) . Supporting transition requires not only  \nputting structures and processes in place which make the first year easier to navigate, but also working with new students before they arrive. Ensuring that students have realistic expectations of what university life is like can promote retention; withdrawal or withdrawal consideration can arise due to amis-match between new students’ expectations of HE and the reality (Briggs, Clark & Hall, 2012) .  \nSupporting successful transition is particularly important within psychology. In areview of the future of undergraduate psychology education conducted for the Higher Education Academy (HEA; Trapp et al, 2011) it was recommended that entry students should be informed about what is involved in a psychology degree and that there should be regional preparatory sessions. The need to better inform entry students arises out of common misconceptions they are likely to hold. Reddy and Lantz (2010) identify several misconceptions which abound, including: (i) believing that a psychology degree confers professional  \nPsychology Teaching Review Vol. 20 No 2, Winter 2014 79  \n© The British Psychological Society  \nAlana I. James  \npsychologist status; (ii) equating academic psychology with counselling and psychotherapy; and (iii) not conceptualising psychology as a science. The latter may be particularly problematic as studying psychology or another science subject at pre-tertiary level is often not an entry requirement, meaning that students may well enter their psychology degree without recent grounding in scientific principles. Related to this is not being prepared for the level of mathematical and biological content (Reddy & Lantz, 2010), which ca","cbCaicmP4S8nC9u6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicmP4S8nC9u6","pdf",241205,16,"English","# Introduction\n# Transition into HE\n## Supporting transition in psychology\n## Misconceptions and academic preparation\n## Gender skew and support needs\n# Transition from HE into employment\n## Employability development in psychology","[{\"question\":\"What two challenges does the project focus on in psychology higher education?\",\"answer\":\"Supporting entry students’ transition into degree study and supporting graduates’ transition into employment.\"},{\"question\":\"How was cross-age mentoring implemented in the first project phase?\",\"answer\":\"Eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level psychology pupils across two schools.\"},{\"question\":\"What were the main outcomes for mentors and mentees?\",\"answer\":\"Mentors showed significant increases in two of nine psychological literacies and high satisfaction, with improved communication skills. Mentees did not show significant improvement over non-mentored pupils in attitudes, self-efficacy, or self-esteem, but reported benefits such as greater insight into university and gains in academic skills.\"}]","Cross-age Mentoring Evaluation in Psychology Teaching Review | PDF"]