Key Lessons
- Gender-specific mentor programming should include creating a space that is safe for the needs of youth. Additionally, although young women may prefer relationship-building activities, individual preferences for types of relationships should ultimately define the program direction and activities.3, 4
- Mentor training should focus on how gender may impact relationships and specific skills for facilitating mentoring from a gendered lens.3, 4
“I think I would want [a mentor of] the same gender because I feel like [she would be] more relatable and they could help you with your issues. And especially some things you wouldn’t really want to go to a guy about. Like if you’re having like relationship issues or like female issues.” (YWCA Youth Consultation)
Existing Toolkits & Resources
Girls Mentoring Toolkit:
Effective Mentoring for Girls |
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Topic |
Standards & Good Practices(linked to positive outcomes for participants) |
Other Pertinent Info(from other studies & reports) |
Program Planning |
Choose a set of specific individual and community outcomes that you would like to achieve through your girls programs.4 | Refer to Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit to find information about approaches and activities for mentoring programs for girls with special considerations (e.g., girls in rural and remote communities).4 |
Program Implementation |
Considering the space and specific considerations of the girls in your program is important to ensure you are fostering a safe space. Consider these factors:
Employ best practices in the program approach:
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Gender-specific mentoring programs can positively influence girls by helping them build skills which encourage them to:
Girls group mentoring was found to be more effective when there were smaller groups and thus more time for personal attention.4 Boys are more likely to see their mentoring relationships as significant than girls. This may be due to the fact that girls may already have lots of social support in their lives.1 |
Mentee Referral, Selection & Training |
Recruit girls who will most benefit from the mentoring experience.4
Ensure promotional material for mentee recruitment uses age appropriate language and graphics that reflect girls of all different shapes and sizes.4 |
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Mentor Recruitment, Screening & Selection |
Consider the needs of the girls you will be working with and the mentor competencies that will support them.4 | |
Mentor Training |
Mentor training should:
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Matching Process |
Same-gender matching may be helpful for gender socialization and role modeling by adult who is not a parent; this consideration may be particularly salient for boys raised by single mothers. Similarly, mentors who share life experiences with their mentees may be seen as more credible and thus developing relationships with their mentees may be easier.2, 3 | There is limited research about whether matches are more effective if they are cross- or same-gender. However, cross-gender matching can reduce the amount of time a young person spends on a waiting list, resulting in getting a mentor more quickly.3 |
Mentoring Relationship Development |
The research indicates that in general girls may prefer relationship building as opposed to boys who may prefer activity-based mentoring, although ultimately individual needs and interests should be prioritized.3, 4 | Liang, Bogat, and Duffy noted that while boys may develop mentoring relationships more quickly, girls may benefit more from long-term mentoring (p. 167).3
Some programs that target girls may be end up assuming what girls want and need from mentoring which can make the intervention much less successful.3 |
Parent/ Caregiver/ Family Involvement |
It is recommended to engage parents, so that the outcomes are more positive. However, there are some important considerations:
Consider inviting important people in the lives of the girls to parent engagement events as some parents may not be able to participate and this can prevent girls from feeling excluded.4 |
- Darling, N., Bogat, G. A., Cavell, T. A., Murphy, S. E., & Sánchez, B. (2006). Gender, ethnicity, and risk: Mentoring and the consideration of individual differences. Journal of Community Psychology, 34(6), 765-779.
- MENTOR. (2015). Elements of effective practice for mentoring, 4th ed. Retrieved from http://www.mentoring.org/new-site/wp- content/uploads/2015/09/Final_Elements_Publication_Fourth.pdf
- Liang, B., Bogat, G. A., & Duffy, N. (2014). Gender in mentoring relationships. In D. L. DuBois & M. J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of Youth Mentoring (pp. 159-175). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
- Canadian Women’s Foundation. (2015). Girls group mentoring toolkit. Retrieved from http://mentoringgirls.ca.