Informal Peer Mentorship: Listening to the Everyday Student

Peer mentorship at colleges and universities is often thought of in the context of formal programs. This paper examines mentorship from an informal lens as the everyday advice students give their peers. This study utilized focus groups to see how students responded to questions their peers asked about their experiences. Four themes emerged that can be used to inform research and practice: academic development, psychological and identity development, interpersonal and social development, and life-skill development.