Mentoring for Transfer Student Leadership Capacity and Personal Development

Leadership capacity is related to many college student outcomes, and mentoring can support the development of this capacity among transfer students. Prior research has suggested that a student affairs professional serving as a student's most significant mentor is more strongly related than other mentor types (e.g., peer, faculty, and employer) to the development of leadership capacity. This finding may not generalize to transfer students, who have unique needs and may benefit from other types of mentors. This study explored the relationship between mentor type and the development of transfer student leadership capacity using data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. The results indicated no differences between the types of mentors, but the mentoring process was related to the development of leadership capacity in transfer students. Implications of these results for theory and practice are discussed.